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THE PRINCESS TARAKAXOVA 
 
THE PRINCESS TARAKANOVA 
 
 The only art her airill to coyer, 
 'To hide far shame from every e) . 
 
 ; 
 ." ,'//'/ wrf/uf his bosom is to die. 
 

 THE 
 
 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA 
 
 % §ax\\ Chapter jof Russian listers 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN 
 OF 
 
 G. P. DANILEVSKI 
 
 BY 
 
 IDA DE MOUCHANOFF 
 
 WITH FOUR PORTRAITS 
 
 ilruj gotft 
 
 MACMILLAN & CO. 
 
 LONDON : SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. 
 
' 
 
 
 (if I tf 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 P6- 3^21 
 
 Introduction 
 
 1X-XXV111 
 
 part I. 
 
 DIARY OF LIEUTENANT RONSOV. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. 
 
 Tempest-tossed. 
 
 1 
 
 II. 
 
 My Imprisonment .... 
 
 6 
 
 III. 
 
 Important News .... 
 
 . 13 
 
 IV. 
 
 I see the Princess .... 
 
 . 21 
 
 V. 
 
 My Interview with the Princess. 
 
 27 
 
 VI. 
 
 The Princess asks Me to assist Her 
 
 . 33 
 
 VII. 
 
 I convey a Letter . 
 
 41 
 
 VIII. 
 
 I deliver a Letter 
 
 . 50 
 
 IX. 
 
 We will befriend Her . 
 
 , 60 
 
 X. 
 
 Is the Count a Traitor? 
 
 . m 
 
 XI. 
 
 The Departure from Rome . 
 
 , 82 
 
 XII. 
 
 The Princess seeks My Advice 
 
 89 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The " Marriage " . 
 
 96 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Treachery ..... 
 
 , 104 
 
 XV. 
 
 Remorse 
 
 109 
 
 XVI. 
 
 The Bottle cast into the Sea 
 
 . 114 
 
 VII 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 part II. 
 
 RAVELIN ALEXEEF. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XVII. Ekaterina at Moscow .... 125 
 
 XVIII. The Princess at St. Petersburg . .129 
 
 XIX. The Historiographer Miller . .137 
 
 XX. Miller's Reply 144 
 
 XXI. Orloff and the Princess . . . 152 
 
 XXII. Orloff's Interview with the Princess 159 
 
 XXIII. Orloff at Moscow 1G8 
 
 XXIV. The Princess writes to the Empress . 177 
 XXV. Father Peter Andreef .... 183 
 
 XXVI. The Visitors' Quest .... 188 
 
 XXVII. A late Visitor 196 
 
 XXVIII. Baptism 202 
 
 XXIX. Confession and Absolution . . . 208 
 
 XXX. " What if the Captive be Innocent ?" 213 
 
 XXXI. Release 218 
 
 XXXII. " A Rose and a Myrtle "... 227 
 
 XXXIII. Pavel Petrovitch and the Enchanter 237 
 
 XXXIV. A Myrtle Leaf 243 
 
 XXXV. Fifteen Years After .... 249 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Gregory Petrovitcii Danilevski ivas born at 
 Danilovki, an estate in the government of Kharkov, 
 on April 14th, 1829. He died last winter at St. 
 Petersburg, on December 6th. Eis childhood over 
 — it was spent partly on the estate of his grand- 
 father, near Dontsov, partly on the estate of Petrovski 
 — he became a student first of the Muscovite Insti- 
 tute for the nobility, afterwards of the University 
 of St. Petersburg, leaving the latter, in 1850, as 
 graduate in jurisprudence. In 1848, during his 
 studentship, he tvas presented with a silver medal 
 at the meeting of the Philological Institute for his 
 composition on Poushkin and Kriloff. 
 
 From 1850 to 1857 he served in the ministry of 
 public instruction, at first tinder Noroff, afterwards 
 tender Prince Viazimski. During this period he 
 visited Finland and the Crimea, and worked, by 
 commission from the Archceological Society, on the 
 archives of the monasteries of the governments of 
 Kharkov, Koursk, and, Poltava, and, at the sugges- 
 
 IX 
 
x INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tion of the historian Oustrialoff, wrote a description 
 of the famous battlefield of the last-named place. 
 In 1856, at the instance of the Imperial admiral, 
 Constantino Nicolaievitch, he was sent to the south 
 of Russia to write a description of the Sea of Azov, 
 the Dneiper, and the Don. In the following year 
 he resigned his official appointment. Thereafter, 
 for twelve years, he lived at Petrovski, his own 
 favourite estate in Kharkov, from time to time, 
 however, paying visits to Poland, White Russia, 
 Volhynie, and Podolia, and sailing down the 
 Volga, Don, and Dnieper. Made in 1859 deputy 
 of the committee of Kharkov for improving the 
 condition of the peasantry, he ivas instructed four 
 years later, by Golovinin, the minister of public 
 instruction, to inspect and to report on the con- 
 dition of 200 national schools in the government 
 of Kharkov. During the first three years of the 
 establishment of the rural police courts he served 
 by election. Despatched to St. Petersburg in 1868 
 as a deputy by the government of Kharkov, he had 
 the honour of being presented to the emperor. 
 From 1867 to 1870 he held the post of honorary 
 justice of the peace. Finally, in 1869, on the 
 institution of the official organ, " The Government 
 Herald," he was appointed senior assistant to the 
 chief editor. This post he occupied eleven years. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 His historical novels have created quite a sensa- 
 tion in Bussia by reason of their originality, their 
 fascination, and their truthfulness to history and to 
 nature. Among the more celebrated of his numerous 
 ivories, besides the novel of ivliich a translation is here 
 presented, are " Merovitch" and "Freedom." As 
 Danilevski has, hitherto, been unknown in England, 
 some remarks on Ids writings ivill be of interest. 
 
 With regard to the sad history contained in this 
 book, it is evident that the author had exceptional 
 information on the subject of his narrative, for 
 he is not over-careful to conceal his opinion of 
 the strong probability of the Princess TarakanovaJ s 
 claims being legitimate as well as bona-fide, and 
 of Orloffs real character being greatly different 
 from the popular estimate of it as expressed in 
 the lines under the count's portrait. It is not 
 knoiun how the remarkable diary which constitutes 
 Part I. of this work came into Danilevski's hands ; 
 but there is ground for the conjecture that it came 
 to him, w itli other papers, from his grandmother. 
 A curious fact, too, is the circumstance that 
 DanilevsMs governess was a lady of the name oj 
 Pchelkina. However tin's may be, my husband, 
 Colonel de Genie de Mouchanojf, was informed by 
 Danilevski himself that the diary as published is 
 almost word for word as written by Konsov, and 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that the details concerning the subsequent history 
 of the captive were obtained by him from authentic 
 official documents. 
 
 Nevertheless, Danilevski's view is not the popular 
 one. Schebalski and Solovieff in dealing ivith this 
 subject write as follows : — 
 
 " When Russia ivas involved in the war with 
 Turkey some evil-minded persons availed themselves 
 of the opportunity to bring forward pretenders to 
 the throne. They set rumours afloat to the effect 
 that Elizabeth, after her secret marriage with Count 
 Razoumovski, had a daughter, and that this child 
 was she who was known by the name of Princess 
 Tarakanova. 
 
 " The adventures of this Pretender form a very 
 interesting page in Russian history, and have given 
 rise to many novels and tales. They have now, 
 however, lost much of their mysterious interest, 
 thanks to the extracts printed from the proces of 
 Princess Tarakanova, not long since published in 
 one of our historical reviews. Still, it is an ascer- 
 tained, fact that the Princess spent several of the 
 years of her youth abroad, and that she led a 
 luxurious though retired life. Very likely the tie 
 between this person and the Russian Empress may 
 have been known to political intriguers, and have 
 suggested to them the idea of using this Pretender 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 as an instrument for raising a revolution in Russia. 
 There is every reason to helieve that Prince Radzi- 
 rill, the leader of the confederation of Radomshi, 
 educated a young girl with this object in view ; hut 
 whether this girl became the future Taralcanova, or 
 some other person, is to this day, and most probably 
 will remain eternally, unknown. 
 
 " What is really ascertained is that a young girl 
 of very humble origin, a native of Prague orNurem- 
 burg, endowed with the most marvellous beauty, 
 clever ami enterprising, but of extremely equivocal, 
 conduct, shone from the end of the year 17G0 
 till the beginning of 1770 at Berlin, London, and 
 Paris, lavishly spending on her dress and pleasures 
 the money which she had levied on her admirers. 
 With every new residence she changed her inline. 
 In Paris she was the " Princess Wladimirslcaya" 
 a native of Russia, but brought up, it was said, 
 in Persia, as mischief was feared at the hands of 
 her enemies in Russia, where, so she alleged, she 
 had great possessions. We are bound, indeed, to 
 believe that Iter charms were extraordinary ; for 
 notwithstanding her conduct, several highly placed, 
 jiersonages, in both France and Germany, sought 
 her hand. One of these was actually a reigning 
 Prince of the German Empire. In 1773, the 
 mysterious adventuress was on the point of accept- 
 
xi v INTRO D UC TION. 
 
 ing the hand of this prince, but postponed the 
 matter under pretence of starting for Bassia to 
 arrange her affairs, and then suddenly disappeared. 
 In the spring of 1774 she turned up at the other 
 side of Europe — at Venice. 
 
 "It was then that her political role really began. 
 As early as 1773 she had had relations with 
 several Poles, who had left their native land, shortly 
 after the conspiracy of Bashi, and it is not unlikely 
 that it was at this time that the programme of 
 her future actions was arranged. The Princess 
 WladimirsJcaya was to take the name of the "Prin- 
 cess Tarakanova," set sail for Constantinople on 
 a ship which Badzivill had offered to equip, and 
 there explain to the Sultan her pretensions to the 
 Russian throne. It ivas evidently the opinion of 
 her advisers that her appearance on the Danube at 
 the very moment when Pougachoff was raising a 
 rebellion on the Volga would, increase the difficulties 
 of Ekaterina 's position, and would be taken ad- 
 vantage of by Turkish politicians. As a matter 
 of fact, in the summer of 1774, the Princess Tara- 
 kanova and Prince Badzivill, accompanied by a 
 numerous suite, did set sail for Constantinople. 
 But they stopped at Bagusa, wishing to ascertain 
 beforehand what kind of reception they ivere likely 
 to meet with at the hands of the Sultan. Uufortu- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xv 
 
 nately for them, great changes had taken place. 
 The overtures of the Princess were not only de- 
 clined: she was even invited to give up all thought 
 of her visit. 
 
 " Separated from Radzivill, but not from her 
 political role, the Princess went first to Naples and 
 then to Rome. At the latter city she tried to bring 
 to her side all the most influential cardinals, and 
 even the Pope himself, promising that in the event 
 of her accession to the throne she would do all in 
 her poiver to establish the Catholic faith in Russia. 
 
 " During all these peripefcies Count Orloff Clies- 
 menslci ivas, as we all know, in Italy. Of course 
 he lost no time in writing full particulars concern- 
 ing the false Tarakanova to Ehaterina, from whom 
 lie received orders to steal the Pretender, and so 
 cut off the intrigue at the very outset. Orloff sur- 
 rounded the Princess with spies, and, through his 
 emissaries, tried to inspire her with confidence in 
 himself. The words of the emissaries seemed very 
 credible to the Princess. Gregory Orloff was then 
 in disgrace, and it would be no very unlikely cir- 
 cumstance if his brother turned: into a secret enemy 
 of the empress, and joined in the intrigue. Orloff 
 placed boundless credit at her disposition ; and b// 
 giving himself out as a man deeply outraged by the 
 government, persuaded the " Countess SelinsJei" as 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Princess then called herself, to come to a ren- 
 dezvous with him at Pisa. Here he surrounded 
 her with all possible homage. Balls and fetes 
 succeeded each other in swift succession. He made 
 believe to fall in with her plans, and eventually 
 offered her his hand. Nevertheless, he was only 
 awaiting an opportunity to arrest her, without 
 causing any scandal. He had not long to wait. 
 One day the Countess Selinslci expressed a wish to 
 visit the Russian squadron, then stationed at 
 Livorno. Orloff gave orders for preparations to be 
 made for a magnificent reception of the countess, 
 and arranged, splendid naval manoeuvres. He 
 himself, with her suite, accompanied her on board 
 the man-of-war. The manoeuvres began ; the can- 
 non fired ; sails were unfurled ; the ships sailed 
 out into the open sea; and, the unfortunate Pre- 
 tender, at the end of a journey, found herself shut 
 up in the fortress of Petersburg. Here, it is said, 
 she languished till 1776, when she was drowned by 
 the rushing of the waters into her prison. But 
 this is not true. Historical documents prove that 
 she died of the same illness from which she was 
 suffering when she came to Russia, and, which, of 
 course, made rapid strides during her confinement 
 in the damp dungeon." 
 
 Bemarlcable as is " The Princess Taralcanova" 
 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 it is not regarded in Russia as so fine a work a* 
 " Merovitch" This work has attracted universal 
 attention, for it describes one of the most interest- 
 ing epoch* of Russian history. The "mysterious 
 and melancholy account of the unfortunate prince- 
 martyr, the victim of troublous times, is all the 
 more interesting as it is founded on historical 
 documents. Written with great entrain and truth- 
 fulness, the novel on its publication created quite a 
 sensation. It originally appeared in 1875, under 
 the title, " The Imperial Prisoner" but its sale was 
 prohibited. In 1879 it was again printed, by order 
 of the emperor. 
 
 " The whole canvas of the novel," says Danilevsld, 
 "such as the life and infatuation of Merovitch, the 
 customs and manners of the period , many details of 
 the reign of Elcaterina and, the attempt of Mero- 
 vitch, are taken from the diary and reminiscences of 
 my great-grandmother, and of my grandmother, who 
 was Friiulein at the court of Peter III. Many 
 things I toolc down from the lips of my uncle, the 
 eldest sou of my father's mother, — a born Ross- 
 lavleff, who, together with Orloff, as every one knows, 
 played so conspicuous a part in tlte Coup-d'Etat 
 'which placed Elcaterina on the throne. But in all 
 that belongs to history, I have, of course, strictly 
 adhered to authentic documents from the Imperial 
 
xviii IN TROD UCTION. 
 
 archives. I have also had access to the archives of 
 the citadel of Schlusselburg, to the official documents 
 of the council of Archangel, and I have visited 
 the celebrated, dungeon of the unfortunate Prince 
 Johann Antonovitch, and the birthplace of 
 ' Merovitch: " 
 
 " Merovitch ' is thus a detailed account of the 
 Coup-d'Etat which placed Ekaterina on the 
 throne of Russia, and of the conspiracy and attempt 
 to put Johann Antonovitch on the throne, which was 
 his by right. 
 
 An officer named, Merovitch penetrated into the 
 citadel above referred to, and hoping to surprise the 
 sentinels and throw them off their guard, read a 
 proclamation, trusting to be able in the confusion to 
 facilitcde the escape of the unfortunate prince. Bid 
 long before strict orders had been given (it is supposed, 
 by Ekaterina) that at the first attempt at escape 
 on the part of the prince he was to be hilled on 
 the spot. Tins command was strictly carried out. 
 When Merovitch entered the prince's cell, he found, 
 only the dead, body of the unfortunate martyr. 
 
 Ekaterina II. plays so important a part in the 
 events described in these 'novels that some, particu- 
 lars of her life and, character may not be out of place. 
 
 She was bom in the year 1729, at Stettin. 
 Her father, a general in the Prussian service, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 the governor of this town, 'inherited by the death 
 of his cousin, the Prince of Zerbst, a small prin- 
 cipality, situated on the borders of the Elbe, 
 between Prussia and Saxony, 
 
 Her mother came of the house of Holstein, 
 Princess Sophie Augusta of Anhalt- Zerbst teas 
 therefore distantly related to her future husband. 
 She came over to Russia in her fourteenth year 
 with Iter mother, and, was at once instructed in the 
 Russian faith and tongue. The following year, 
 1745, ha ring been baptized into the Greek faith 
 under the name of Ekaterina Alexeevna, she was 
 united, to the heir of the Russian empire. 
 
 Her husband on his accession to the throne 
 excited the discontent of the nation by publishing a 
 great number of ukases, which, although in them- 
 selves most humane and wise, yet, owing to the 
 uncivilized state of Russia, were in their nature far 
 too premature. Above all, he outraged the national 
 feeling by the treaty which he concluded with 
 Prussia on April 24^tlo, 1762, by which Russia re- 
 turned to Prussia all forts, citadels, and, towns taken 
 in the last war. His Imperial Highness wished, 
 it was said, to give to the world an example of 
 abnegation and generosity. It was a marvellous 
 event; but although nations like to see in their 
 sovereigns high moral qualities, they also desire 
 
xx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tJtat advantages for which they have worked hard 
 and shed their blood should not be wholly thrown 
 away. By this one act Peter III. raised the ivhole 
 nation against him. 
 
 Ehaterina, his consort, had won a great many 
 adherents by her beauty, grace, and accomplish- 
 ments, and many true friends among the nobility . 
 Exceedingly ambitious, she had — with the view, as 
 we may suppose, of one day ascending the throne 
 — made herself thoroughly well acquainted with 
 Russian legislation and European politics ; and 
 being as deeply devoted, as her husband was pro- 
 foundly indifferent to the Greek Church and its 
 ceremonies and symbols, and having in this way 
 established herself in the affections of the Russian 
 'peasantry — so superstitiously reverential to their 
 Church, — she found it no difficult matter to supplant 
 her less capable and, unpopular partner. He, as is 
 well known, not only ill-used her, but was unfaithful 
 to her. Indeed, it was rumoured that the fate of 
 the unfortunate Princess Eudoxie [who had been 
 forced; to take the veil) was awaiting her. Her 
 successor was even named — viz., the niece of the 
 chancellor Vorontzoff, a woman who, as all contem- 
 porary writers say, was not only ugly and deformed, 
 but also most insignificant and illiterate. Mean- 
 while, Ehaterina 9 s conduct had been 'wholly irre- 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 proachable. She was then at Peterhoff, leading a 
 most retired life, but sometimes meeting her adherents, 
 especially the two Orloffs, and the Princess Dashhoff. 
 The Coup-d'Etat was to have taken place on 
 Jane 29///, at the patronal fete of the emperor ; 
 but the arrest of Passek, captain of the regiment of 
 PreobrajensM, together with the order given to the 
 army to march against Denmark, brought about the 
 crisis. Rumours had been set afloat that the em- 
 press was in danger. 'Hie guards, who were all 
 devoted to the empress — 40 officers and about 10,000 
 privates — noisily demanded to be sent to Oranien- 
 baum, to the defence of their beloved empress. 
 One of the privates rushed to Captain Passek, 
 exclaiming that the empress was in danger, that 
 an ukase ordering her arrest had been issued. 
 Passek answered that it was all nonsense. The 
 private, horrified, rushed to another officer, who on 
 hearing the news, and learning that he had, been to 
 Passek, then on duty, arrested him and led him to 
 Voyeikoff. And the latter, in Ids turn, arrested 
 Passek, and sent a report to Oranienbaum. Of 
 course the arrest of Passek threw the whole regi- 
 ment, as well as the conspirators in other regiments, 
 into a panic. It was decided to send Orlojf to 
 Peterhoff to escort the empress to Petersburg. 
 
 It was six o'clock in the morning when Orloff 
 
xxii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 readied Peterhoff. He knocked at the empress's 
 door, walked in, and very coolly said, "It is time 
 to get up ; all is ready!" "What! how?" ex- 
 claimed Ekaterina. " Passek is arrested," an- 
 swered Orloff. Ekaterina asked no more questions, 
 but, hastily dressing, took her seat inside the car- 
 riage. Orloff sat by the coachman ; another officer, 
 Bihikqff, rode at the door. They made straight for 
 the barracks of Ismail off. The alarm was given. 
 Soldiers ran out, surrounded the empress, kissing 
 her hands, her garments, calling her their 
 " saviour." Two soldiers led a priest up, and all 
 crowded to her to take the oath of allegiance. The 
 empress was invited, to take Iter place in the car- 
 riage again. The priest, with the cross, went on 
 ahead. Soon they all arrived at the barracks of 
 Simeon, followed by tlie two regiments. These 
 accompanied her to the cathedral of Kazan, where 
 the Archbishop Dimitri met her. The Te Deum 
 was sung, and Ekaterina Alexeevna was proclaimed 
 Empress of Russia, and Pavel Petrovitch, her son, 
 heir to the throne, 28th June, 1762. 
 
 On leaving the cathedral the empress was driven 
 to the Winter Palace, where she took up her 
 residence. 
 
 Meanwhile, Peter III. was quite ignorant of 
 these e cents. At the eery time when Ekaterina was 
 
I NT ROD UC TION. xxii i 
 
 being proclaimed empress, lie was preparing to 
 start with a large and brilliant suite for Peterhoff, 
 
 where, as had been before decided, his fete was to 
 be celebrated. An officer, Goodovitch, who had gone 
 on before, suddenly returned ivith all haste and 
 ivhispered softly to refer that the empress had left 
 the palace long ago, and ira.s now nowhere to be 
 found. The emperor, in a passion, jumped out of 
 his carriage and, walled rapidly to the pavilion 
 " Mon-Plaisir" but found nothing save his consort 1 's 
 ball-dress, ready for the fete. "Did I not tell you 
 she was bold enough, for anything ? " was Peter's 
 first exclamation. Originally, it was the intention 
 of Peter to assert his rights; but the representa- 
 tions of his friends, the small number of his fol- 
 lowers, and, the fervour shown to the new empress, 
 all combined to shake his resolution, and the same 
 day he signed, his abdication. 
 
 Seven days later he died in the palace of 
 Mopshoe — poisoned, as it is supposed. 
 
 Elcaterina died on November 6th, 1796, at the 
 ■age of 67. 
 
 In estimating the character of this famous woman, 
 we must not judge her actions as 'ice should those of 
 a private person. Indeed, in reflecting on the lives 
 of those ivho have, it may be said, to anstcer for 
 the welfare and prosperity of nations, we should 
 
xxiv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 never forget the fact that these high personages 
 have often, sometimes against their own feelings, 
 to sacrifice the life of one for the well-being of 
 thousands. Nor should we fail to take into account 
 the character of the times in which Ekaterina 
 ascended the throne. When her reign is compared 
 with the reigns of those who preceded, her, it appears 
 in any but an unpleasant light. Indeed, it is 
 impossible not to admire the empress for the 
 humanity of her laws, and for the example she set to 
 all her court in frugality, industry, and simplicity. 
 
 The poet Derjavin wrote an ode in her honour, 
 in tvhich he contrasted her manner of living with 
 that of her courtiers. She rose very early, was 
 always occupied, devoted several hours every day to 
 new projects, laivs, etc., for different institutions, 
 more often she went on foot than she drove. Her 
 table tvas most frugal, although of course she lead 
 every luxury at her command. Cards were all the 
 rage then, especially the most hazardous game of 
 " Faro," tvhich as grand-duchess she had been 
 made to play at court. But after she ascended the 
 throne she never played at games of chance again. 
 She did not care very much for masquerade balls, 
 only talcing part in them on solemn occasions. 
 
 On her accession she found all legislation, all 
 administration of justice in most frightful chaos, but 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxv 
 
 reduced everything to order. "Of darkness -she made 
 light." Justice could no longer be bought or sold. 
 
 She was never proud : to the meanest of her 
 subjects always easy of access. Nor was she ever 
 offended at hearing the unvarnished truth — witness 
 her polemic with Von Viesing. She did not resent 
 the most hitter criticism. 
 
 By an ukase she put down a most horrible 
 institution called Slovo-i-dielo, 1 which somewhat 
 resembled the Star Chamber. So strict had the 
 lairs been that people could be brought to the torture 
 for having whispered at their own tables one to 
 another ; for not having drunk the health of the 
 reigning Sovereign; for having scratched out the 
 Imperial name and rewritten it; for having dropped 
 money on which was stamped the Imperial effigy. 
 Very differently from one of her predecessors, Anna, 
 Johannovna, she did not exact that her courtiers 
 should be sitting on baskets in rows along the 
 rooms through which she had to pass from the 
 chapel to her own rooms, and cackle like hens. 
 Nor used she to slap her courtiers' faces. She 
 built no ice palace to marry her jester and jestress 
 in; she allowed none of her favourites to blacken 
 with soot the faces of the proud old aristocracy, " to 
 make an empress laugh" She was the first to 
 
 1 Lit., word and deed. 
 
xxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 teach her subjects self-respect. She wrote an ex- 
 cellent moral tale for her grandson, in which, ad- 
 monishing him to shun flatterers, she told him that 
 to be invulnerable to slander, " Do no ill, and the 
 bitterest traducer will stand before the world, a 
 convicted liar." She abolished torture on reading 
 the interrogation of Volhynski, a Russian boyar, 
 brought to torture for supposed treason, and in her 
 testament she willed that her descendants should 
 read that piece of conviction to stifle in them any 
 inclination to cruelty. 
 
 She ivas the first to divide the Russian Empire 
 into provinces, and to give each province self- 
 government. She opened the first national schools, 
 cadet-corps, and two splendid half-school, half- 
 convent-like institutions for the education of the 
 daughters of the nobility. Site promulgated an 
 •ukase allowing landlords to work the mines of gold 
 and silver found on their own properties, which 
 before had been strictly forbidden ; and made all 
 the rivers and seas free of access to every one — i.e., 
 every one might sail on them, use them for mills, 
 etc. She tried, to encourage weaving, spinning awl 
 serving, science and commerce, and gave permission 
 to all her subjects to travel — then an unknown 
 liberty. It is the boast of Russians that in her 
 reign no beggars 'were to be found, owing, no doubt, 
 
IN TROD UC TION. x x \ • i i 
 
 to her humane laws regarding the serfs. Every 
 landlord was compelled to keep on his estate, and 
 to provide for, every serf, whether the serf ivere 
 able to work or not. It would, in fact, take too long 
 to enumerate all the numerous acts of clemency, 
 justice, and wisdom of this wise, prudent, and far- 
 seeing empress. If her frailty as a woman calls 
 for the world's censure, no one, on reading her 
 history, can forbear bringing to her feet the tribute 
 she so well deserves as an empress. 
 
 In the present translation I have tried to pre- 
 serve, as far as possible, the quaintness and 
 piquancy of the original Russian, but I fear that 
 in thus endeavouring to produce a faithful copy of 
 the author's work I hare often sacrificed elegant 
 and correct English. Only those who know how 
 terse and vigorous a language the Russian is will 
 be able to appreciate the translator's difficulties, 
 which are greater than those of an author of a new 
 work, so far as the mere writing of it is concerned. 
 Whilst it is often impossible to adhere strictly to 
 the author's words without producing obscurities, 
 the use of lengthy phrases and even whole sentences 
 to express the full sense of the original, means, on 
 the oilier hand, the annihilation of the author's style. 
 As a rule, translators of Russian works, in their 
 endeavour to make their renderings readable, only 
 
xxviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 succeed in producing a tale in common-place 
 English, with a foreign plot, long drawn out, devoid 
 of colour, and, wearisome to read, — barely recog- 
 nisable sometimes by those who are conversant with 
 the original. 
 
 To assist those who are not familiar with Russia 
 and Russian history, I have explained various 
 references in the text by means of footnotes ; and to 
 excite a more lively interest in the characters, I have 
 included portraits. The frontispiece is a reproduc- 
 tion of an engraving taken from a celebrated, paint- 
 ing which embodies the popular legend, concerning 
 the Princess TaralmnovaJs last hours. 1 The por- 
 traits of Orloff and Ekaterina are reproduced from 
 old and rare engravings. Danilevskis likeness is 
 from a photograph taken some years ago. 
 
 In conclusion, conscious of many faults and, 
 oversights in a translation originally not intended 
 for publication, I have to acknowledge that I am 
 most indebted to Mr. F. Dillon Woon, of Walliug- 
 ton, England, for his kind aid and criticism, and 
 to accord Itim my best thanks. 
 
 IDA DE MOUCIIANOFF. 
 
 Pskov. 
 
 1 The original painting (by Constantinc Flavitski) hangs 
 in the famous private gallery of M. Tretiakoff. 
 

PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 DIARY OF LIEUTENANT KONSOV. 
 
 " There can be no doubt she is an adventuress/' 
 
 — Letter of Ekaterina II. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 
 TEMPEST- TOSSED. 
 
 May, 1775 : Atlantic Ocean, 
 
 Frigate Northern Eagle. 
 
 A storm lias been raging for already three days. 
 We have been so tossed about that it has been 
 impossible to write. Our frigate, the Northern 
 Eagle, is not far from Gibraltar. We have lost 
 our rudder, and our sails are all torn, and now 
 the current is carrying us south-eastwards. 
 Where shall we land ? what will become of us ? 
 
 It is night; the wind has fallen, and the sea 
 is calmer. I am writing in my cabin. All that 
 
 1 B 
 
2 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 I have time to write of what I have seen and 
 
 undergone, I will place in a bottle, and cast it 
 
 upon the waters; and you who may chance to 
 
 find it I entreat, by all that is sacred, to send it 
 
 to its address. Ah ! all-powerful God, grant me 
 
 powers of memory; enlighten my poor soul, so 
 
 torn with doubt ! 
 
 ***** 
 
 I am a sailor, Pavel Konsov, an officer in the 
 navy of our most gracious Majesty, Empress of 
 all the Russias, Ekaterina II. Five years ago, 
 by the mercy of God, I succeeded in distinguish- 
 ing myself at the famous battle of Chesma. All 
 the world knows of our brave companions, 
 Lieutenant Elien and Lieutenant Klokachov, who, 
 on the night of the twenty-sixth of June, 1770, 
 with four fire-ships and a few Grecian boats, 
 hastily equipped, bravely advanced upon the 
 Turkish fleet at Chesma, and rendered valuable 
 assistance in its destruction. I, though so insig- 
 nificant, had the good fortune, under cover of the 
 fire-ships and the dark, to throw with my own 
 hand, from our ship, January, the first fire-ball 
 at the enemy. It was this fire-ball which, falling 
 into and igniting the powder magazine, caused 
 the explosion near the ship of the Turkish ad- 
 miral from which the Avhole fleet took fire. 
 
CHESMA. 3 
 
 Next morning, of over a hundred formidable 
 men-of-war, some of sixty and some of ninety 
 guns, frigates, galliots, and galeres, — not one 
 remained ! On the surface of the waters were 
 visible only wreckage and numbers of dead 
 bodies. 
 
 Our victory was sung in odes by the celebrated 
 poet Heraskov, and several lines were dedicated 
 to my humble self, until then unknown to the 
 world. This poem was in every one's mouth. 
 The English in the Russian service — for instance, 
 Mackenzie and Dugdale, who served on one of 
 the fire-ships — took to themselves the credit for 
 the greater part of the glory won at the battle 
 of Chesma. But they did not really much 
 surpass our own officers and men, who all 
 distinguished themselves by their courage and 
 gallantry. After this event I was found worthy 
 of receiving the rank of lieutenant, and the 
 Count Alexis Orioif, the hero of Chesma, having 
 honoured me by his preference, I became his 
 aide-de-camp. My career was thus, so far, very 
 fortunate. Life, on the whole, smiled upon me. 
 But sometimes a fatal destiny pursues man. 
 Suddenly fortune ceased to favour me, angry 
 maybe, at my abrupt, albeit forced, departure 
 from my native land. 
 
4 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Resting on our laurels reaped at Cliesma, we 
 led joyous lives. We received flattering invita- 
 tions from the French, Spanish, Venetians, and 
 men of other nations. All at once, upon me, 
 the alien, there fell a new, unexpected, and very 
 terrible temptation . 
 
 The war continued, but Count Orloff, after 
 many noisy battles, lived in luxurious ease with 
 the fleet. He was wont to say, " I am as happy 
 as Enoch, who was taken up to heaven." But 
 these were mere words, for, since he had taken 
 an active part in placing Ekaterina upon the 
 throne, wild and bold ideas were ever coursing 
 through his brain. 
 
 Once, when sailing in the Adriatic with the 
 squadron, he despatched me on a secret mission 
 to the brave, warlike Montenegros. This was in 
 the year 1773. The scouts made all arrange- 
 ments wisely and adroitly ; and at night, taking 
 with me what I required on shore, I landed 
 with great caution, and speedily conducted my 
 business. But on our return voyage we were 
 sighted and pursued by the Turkish coastguards. 
 We succeeded in defending ourselves for a con- 
 siderable time ; but in the end our sailors were 
 all killed, while I, severely wounded in the 
 shoulder, lay unconscious at the bottom of the 
 
MADE PRISONER. 5 
 
 boat, where I was found, and whence I was re- 
 moved, a prisoner, to Stamboul. 
 
 I was disguised in a national Albanian costume. 
 Nevertheless, my captors discovered that I be- 
 longed to the Russian navy, and, at first, think- 
 ing no doubt that they would receive a good 
 ransom for me, paid me great attention. Ah ! 
 thought I, as soon as they find out that their 
 prisoner is no other than Lieutenant Konsov, 
 who threw the first fire-ball which caused the 
 explosion and destruction of their staff ship at 
 Chesma, what will my lot be then ? 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MY IMPRISONMENT. 
 
 My imprisonment lasted for about two years, 
 coming to an end in the year 1775. 
 
 At first I was kept shut up in one of the wings 
 of a seven-towered castle, but afterwards I was 
 chained and confined in one of the three hundred 
 mecheti (mosques) of Stamboul. I don't know 
 whether at last, by some means, the Turks 
 learned that one of their prisoners was Konsov, 
 or whether, having lost all hopes of a ransom, 
 they resolved to take advantage of my knowledge 
 and abilities ; but this I know, they tried to con- 
 vert me to Mohammedanism. 
 
 The mosque in which I was imprisoned is 
 situated on the shores of the Bosphorus, and 
 through my window-grating I could watch the 
 blue sea and the vessels sailing to and fro. The 
 mulla who came to visit me was of Sclavonic 
 origin ; he was a Bulgarian from Gabrova. We 
 therefore understood one another without much 
 
 G 
 
THE MULLA'S TACTICS. 7 
 
 difficulty. 1 My visitor set to work in a round- 
 about way to convert me to the Turkish faith. 
 He praised the Turkish people, their customs 
 and morals, and extolled the power and glory 
 of the Sultan. At first, though very indignant 
 at all this, I kept silence, but at last I began to 
 contradict. Thereupon, in order to gain my con- 
 fidence in himself and his faith, he obtained as a 
 first step permission for my removal to a more 
 comfortable cell, and for my being provided with 
 better food. Accordingly I was transferred to 
 the ground floor of the mosque, part of which 
 the mulla himself inhabited, and was allowed 
 tobacco and all sorts of sweetmeats and wine. 
 Still, notwithstanding all this, my chains were 
 left on me. My teacher (himself a renegade), 
 according to the law of Mohammed, could not 
 drink wine, but he enticed and tempted me to. 
 " Turn Islamist," he would say, " and then how 
 happy you will be : your chains will at once fall 
 off you. And see how many ships there are : yon 
 may enter the Turkish service on one of them, 
 and in time become one of our captains ! " 
 
 I lay on my mat without touching any of the 
 
 1 The Bulgarian language is similar to the Russian, being" 
 a Sclavonic dialect. 
 
8 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 tempting viands, and scarcely hearing a word 
 that my tempter said, for my mind was filled 
 with thoughts of my native land. I murmured 
 the names of my friends and of all dear to me, 
 and pondered over my lost happiness. My heart 
 was breaking, my soul was torn with uncertainty 
 and grief. Ah ! how well I remember those sad 
 hours, filled with such sorrowful musings ! 
 
 As I now recollect, my thoughts then wandered 
 to the far-off village, my native Konsovka. I 
 was an orphan, and already had obtained my 
 commission. From the training college I had 
 come straight to the house of my grandmother, 
 whose name was Agraffena Konsova. Not far 
 from us, in the town of Baturin, lived Eakitin, 
 a retired brigadier, a widower, whose estates in 
 the country adjoined ours. Leff Hieraclieovitch 1 
 had one daughter, Irena Lvovna. To tell all 
 briefly, what with going to the church of Eakitin, 
 visiting; Irena at her father's halls, and our 
 secret meetings and walks together, we fell in 
 love with one another. My love for Irena was 
 passionate and unrestrained. With her dusky 
 
 1 The Russians have no " Mr.," " Mrs." or " Miss " before 
 names. They use the patronymic, which consists in adding 
 vitch, for the masculine, and vna, for the feminine, to the 
 name of the father, with sometimes a contraction. 
 
IRENA. 9 
 
 skin and luxurious black hair, she was charming. 
 She was my life, my idol, to whom I offered 
 prayers night and day. We confessed our love, 
 and day by day became dearer to each other. 
 Ah ! those moments, those meetings, those vows ! 
 
 We began to send each other love letters, full 
 of passionate avowals of love. I was always 
 fond of music, and Irena used to play enchant- 
 ingly upon the clavichord, and would sing in a 
 lovely voice pieces from Grliick, Bach, and Handel. 
 We met often. In this way the summer passed. 
 Ah ! dear and never-to-be-forgotten days ! 
 
 Unfortunately, one of my letters fell into the 
 hands of Irena' s father. Was Rakitin too stern 
 with his daughter, or did he talk her over, and 
 so persuade her to give me up, to change me for 
 another ? . . . I know not ; it is all too 
 painful for me even to try to remember. 
 
 It was autumn, and, as I well recollect, a 
 praznik (holiday) ; we were preparing for church, 
 when suddenly we heard a carriage drive 
 into our yard. A footman in splendid livery 
 came forward, and placed in my grandmother's 
 hands a packet which he had brought for her. 
 My heart throbbed ; my presentiments were ful- 
 filled : Irena' s father had sent a firm and decided 
 refusal to my suit. 
 
io PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Matushka 1 Ageaffena Ylassovna, — 
 
 a 
 
 "Your Pavel Efstafevitcli 2 is worthy in every 
 way, but lie is not a fit husband for my daughter ; 
 and it is useless for him to send love letters to 
 her. Let him not be offended ; we always were 
 and always shall be friends. My earnest hope 
 is that your godson and grandchild may find 
 another bride, a hundred times more suitable 
 than my daughter." 
 
 That letter moved me deeply. The light of 
 heaven seemed extinguished : all that was dearest 
 to me was lost ; all my happiness ruined. 
 
 Proud, rich, and related to the Razoumovskis, 
 Rakitin mercilessly scorned the poor suitor, who 
 also was of noble blood ; yea, of nobler blood 
 perhaps than Rakitin' s own. His pride in his 
 distinguished relatives, who had been favour- 
 ites of the late empress, had hardened his heart. 
 Often had I heard Irena addressed by her father 
 as the future Fraulein (maid of honour). 
 
 " God forgive him ! " I repeated, like one who 
 had lost his senses, as I strode up and down the 
 rooms which once I had loved so much, but which 
 
 1 Little mother, — a caressing term. 
 
 2 Pavel the son of Ei'staffi (see note on page 8). 
 
DESPAIR. 1 1 
 
 now seemed to me so lonely. The clay had been 
 very cloudy, with occasional showers of rain. I 
 ordered my horse to be saddled, and, in my de- 
 spair, rode off to the steppes. I did not draw 
 rein until I reached the borders of the forest 
 which surrounded the estate of Rakitin. There 
 I wandered through the brushwood like a mad- 
 man. The wind whistled through the trees and 
 swept over the bare fields. As night came on, I 
 fastened my horse to a tree, and, leaving the 
 forest, made my way through the garden to the 
 window of Irena's room. Ah ! what I felt at 
 that moment ! I remember, it seemed to me that 
 I had only to call her, and she would throw her- 
 self into my arms, and we would go together to the 
 end of the world. Fool that I was ! I hoped to 
 see her, to exchange thoughts with, her, to pour 
 out my heart, so full of bitter pain. " Leave 
 your father ! leave him ! ' I whispered, gazing in 
 at her window. " He does not pity you ; he does 
 not love you." But I pleaded in vain : her win- 
 dow was dark, and nowhere in all the silent house 
 could I hear one word or see one sio*n of life. 
 On the following nio*ht I aofain went through the 
 garden, and watched the well-known window, 
 through which Irena had often oiven me her 
 hand or thrown me a letter. Would she not 
 
12 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 look out ? would slie not give me some message ? 
 One night, after sending her a note, to which I 
 received no answer, I even determined to kill 
 myself before her window, and took my pistol in 
 my hand. 
 
 " But no," I decided. " Why such a sacrifice ? 
 Perhaps Irena has already bartered me for a 
 richer suitor. Wait a little ; I may find out who 
 the happy rival is." Afterwards, but too late, I 
 learned that Rakitin, after writing his refusal of 
 me, had carried his daughter off to a distant 
 property owned by one of his relations, somewhere 
 on the Oka, and was keeping her there in strict 
 confinement. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 IMPORTANT NEWS. 
 
 My grandmother was not less struck by this 
 than I. One day, about a week later, calling me 
 to her, she said : " You have guessed who your 
 rival is ? One distantly related to the Rakitins ; 
 a prince and Kammerherr (gentleman of the 
 chamber). I have found out, Pavelinka, that 
 they sent for him on purpose, and that he was 
 visiting them all the time you were looking for 
 her, and that it was he who helped them to carry 
 lier off without leaving any trace. Forget her, 
 mon ange, forget Irena ; for no doubt she 
 resembles her father in his pride. Console your- 
 self. God will send you a better wife." 
 
 I felt angry and petulant. " My grandmother 
 is right," I said; and there and then I determined 
 to strive to forget everything. If Irena had had 
 any heart, she would have found some opportunity 
 of writing me a line and sending it. I remember 
 especially how one night I found amongst some 
 
 13 
 
14 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 papers a hymn from " Iphigenia," one of Grliick's 
 
 operas not yet produced in Russia, which I had 
 
 obtained with great difficulty from an amateur 
 
 musician for Irena, but which I had been unable 
 
 to give to her. With tears in my eyes I burnt it. 
 
 After long days of sorrowful despair, I decided 
 
 to leave my birthplace. The parting with my 
 
 grandmother was very touching, for we both felt 
 
 that we should never meet again. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Aeraffena Vlassovna, during her retreat in a 
 neighbouring convent, took cold, and after a 
 short illness, died. I was left alone in the world, 
 like a forgotten blade of grass in a field. 
 
 Having left Konsovka, I wandered for some time 
 about Moscow, where I made the acquaintance of 
 Count Orloff. Thence I went to Petersburg, and 
 tried to get some information concerning the 
 Rakitins, who were still living on the Oka. 
 Always hoping to get news of my faithless" 
 Irena, I made many inquiries ; but no one could 
 tell me what I wanted to know. My furlough 
 was not yet ended ; I was free. But what was left 
 in the world for me ? What could I do ? What 
 could I undertake ? Meanwhile, from the south, 
 from over the water, came news that was on 
 every one's lips. It was the beginning of the 
 
THE MULL A PERSISTENT. 15 
 
 Turkish war. A happy idea flashed through my 
 mind. I applied to the Board of Admiralty, and 
 begged to be transferred to the squadron then 
 sailing in Grecian waters. Count Feodor Orloff 
 helped me very much by giving me a letter of 
 introduction to Count Alexis, who was at that 
 time admiral of the fleet in the Mediterranean 
 Sea. How I came there and what I went through, 
 it would be useless to relate. Always repeating 
 the name that once was so dear to me, I threw 
 myself into every danger. I courted death at 
 Spezzia, at Navarino, and at Chesma. " Irisha ! 
 Irisha ! * what have you done with me ! my 
 Grod ! put an end to my life ! " I cried. But death 
 did not come. Instead of beins: killed, I was 
 taken prisoner soon after the glorious battle of 
 Chesma, and left in dreary captivity in Stamboul ! 
 
 ^IC "5^ ^K ■5JC ^F 
 
 The mulla who visited me became more and 
 more friendly, but also more and more persistent. 
 We met every day, and had long conversations 
 together. Sometimes he made me very angry, 
 even mad, I might say; but at other times he 
 amused me. Then sometimes I would entice him, 
 for company's sake, to defy the command of 
 the prophet, which, perhaps, a minute before he 
 
 1 Pet name for Irena. 
 
1 6 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 had been teaching me with much, fervour, by 
 taking a glass of wine with me ; and would pour 
 the wine out for him myself. My teacher could 
 do nothing, of course, but try to please me, and 
 so very heartily began to partake of the wines of 
 Kioska, and others which he used to brings me. 
 Our meetings continued. We talked sometimes 
 of the Orient, of Russia, and many other things. 
 
 One evening — it must have been about the 
 middle of the year 1774 — at the time when the 
 Muezzin 1 from the high tower bes^an the call to 
 evening prayer, my teacher, with an air of great 
 mystery, and not without showing some wicked 
 pleasure, asked me whether I knew that there 
 had appeared in Italy a very powerful aspirant to 
 the Russian crown, a dangerous rival to the then 
 reigning Empress Ekaterina. I was very much 
 astonished at the news, and for some time was 
 unable to speak. The mulla again related his 
 story, and on my asking who the impostor was 
 he answered, " A secret daughter of the late 
 Empress Elizabeth Petrowna." " That is all 
 nonsense and stupid gossip of your bazaars ! " — 
 The mulla was much offended ; his eyes sparkled 
 with passion. " No, not gossip," he exclaimed, 
 
 1 The man who cries the hour for prayer from one of the 
 mosque towers. 
 
THE NEWS DISTURBS ME. 17 
 
 as lie took from under Lis robe a crumpled piece 
 of one of the newspapers of Utrecht. " You had 
 best be thinking of what awaits your native 
 land." 
 
 My heart, which was beating so loyally for the 
 great empress then ruling over us, suddenly sank. 
 I read the newspaper, and became convinced 
 that the mulla was right. In Paris first, then in 
 Germany, and afterwards in Venice, a person had 
 appeared calling herself " Elizabeth, Princess of 
 all the Russias." At the time of writing, this 
 adventuress was preparing to go to the Sultan, 
 to ask him to aid her with an army then en- 
 camped on the banks of the Danube in enforcing 
 her claims. The mulla remained with me a little 
 longer, and then went out, casting a side glance 
 at me as he left the room. The neAvs which I 
 had just heard troubled me very much. " How 
 so ? " thought I. " Is it not enough that fate sent 
 us the horrible insurrection of Pougacholf ? ' of 
 which I heard in my prison, "and then the Turks? 
 Are we now to be troubled with this pretender ? 
 The former burnt and desolated the whole Po- 
 Volga; 1 this one wants to disturb the whole of 
 the south." I was quite beside myself, and 
 strode from corner to corner of my cell. In my 
 1 The banks on either side of the Volga. 
 
i8 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 anger, I went up to my window, seized hold of 
 the grating, and shook it with all my might. I 
 was ready to tear it with my teeth. " Oh ! for 
 wino's ! for winces ! " I cried to God. I would have 
 flown to the fleet, told them everything, and 
 warned Orion , who was so devoted to the 
 empress. . . . My prayers were answered in a 
 most marvellous manner. Never shall I forget 
 it, though I live for a century. 
 
 Devising a hundred plans for escape, my first 
 idea was to prepare some kind of key to loosen 
 my chains. On an earthenware pot I succeeded 
 in sharpening part of an old nail (upon which I 
 used to hang my clothes, and which I had taken 
 from the wall), and, after much painstaking, 
 fashioned it into a key. It is impossible to 
 describe my joy when, for the first night, I took 
 off my chains and went to bed without them. 
 Next morning I again fettered myself, and care- 
 fully hid the key in a crevice in the wall. My 
 plan was this : — after having very quickly 
 loosened my chains, I would kill the renegade 
 mulla with them, and run away from the prison 
 without being seen. But where ? Thus I planned ; 
 but God, who holds our hearts in His hand, de- 
 livered me from this sin. The mulla continued 
 to visit me and to drink the wine, which through 
 
/ EFFECT MY ESCAPE. 19 
 
 his intercession had been provided for me in 
 abundance. At last my chance came. Having 
 chosen an evening, I decided upon telling the 
 mulla that, convinced by his wise teaching, I had 
 resolved to embrace the Mohammedan faith. He 
 was transported with delight, and in his joy par- 
 took so heartily of the wine as to become intoxi- 
 cated and begin to doze. I kept refilling his 
 glass. " No," he repeated continually, " I cannot. 
 I shall miss the prayers ; I shall be denounced." 
 But I again filled the glass, and he, blinking at 
 me knowingly, again emptied it, threw himself 
 on the floor, and beginning'' to hum a Bulo-arian 
 song, was soon fast asleep. We were both about 
 the same height; my beard, which during my 
 imprisonment had grown very long, only differed 
 from his by being of a slightly lighter colour. 
 
 " Oh ! good Grod ! is it possible," thought I, with 
 a thrill of joy, " that this is liberty at last? : 
 
 Drawing the enormous white turban over my 
 eyes, I devoutly bowed my head, and with silent 
 footsteps and the rosary in my hand, as if repeating 
 a prayer, I slowly left the prison, and crossed the 
 courtyard. The sentinels at the porches and the 
 gates of the mosque were walking silently back- 
 wards and forwards with their muskets ; but as 
 they did not recognise me I escaped detention. 
 
20 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 For some time the noise of the street confused 
 me ; I quite lost my senses. But I quickly re- 
 covered myself, and hastening my steps, soon 
 reached the sea- shore. I signalled to one of the 
 boatmen, took my place in the first little boat that 
 approached me, and, bowing still lower, motioned 
 to the boatman to row me to one of the nearest 
 ships. It was a foreign one, as I had already 
 remarked from my windows. I saw now that it 
 was a French schooner, quite ready to sail, as I 
 could tell by her flag. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 I SEE THE PRINCESS. 
 
 A dark, handsome, spirited Frenchman, the com- 
 manding officer of the schooner, soon showed me 
 that he was a worthy subject of the nation to 
 which he belonged. Seeing in me a Russian 
 sailor, he looked at me, was silent a moment, and 
 then whispered, " Are yon Konsov ? " 
 
 " What makes you think so r " I asked, not 
 without some trepidation. 
 
 " Oh ! how glad I should be if it were so ! ' he 
 answered, "for we all pity brave Konsov very 
 much, and constantly ask after him. I should be 
 very happy to be of any service to him." 
 
 There was nothing to be done ; and I con- 
 cluded it was better to reveal myself. The 
 captain was overjoyed ; he conducted me to his 
 own cabin, and at once promised to pay the boat- 
 man ; whom, however, for safety's sake, he first 
 ordered to be hoisted on deck with the boat. 
 The sails were then unfurled, and the anchor 
 
22 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 weighed. It was night when the schooner set 
 sail, and by morning we had left Stamboul far 
 behind us. The mulla must have slept soundly 
 and long, for we were not pursued. My boatman, 
 who was sent back from one of the villages we 
 passed, having received all that had been promised 
 him, and the mulla's clothes in which I had es- 
 caped into the bargain, was only too glad to hold 
 his tongue. The French officers gave me proper 
 clothing, and generously furnished, me with a sum 
 of money, to which all had subscribed. They 
 politely offered to put me on board the first 
 Russian vessel we should meet in the Italian 
 seas. 
 
 Meanwhile, I heard from the captain that the 
 mysterious Russian Princess was no longer in 
 Venice, but was now at Ragusa, past which town 
 we should have to sail. I asked to be put on 
 shore, but the French officers did all they could 
 to dissuade me, pointing out the risk I should run 
 in beins^ a^ain so near the Turks. This counsel 
 had no effect on me ; I insisted on landing. 
 
 After having thanked my generous preservers 
 (who even refused to take my signature for their 
 loan), I soon set foot on the shores of the republic 
 of Ragusa, where I obtained information concern- 
 ing the lady who so deeply interested me. 
 
/ LAND AT RAGUSA. 23 
 
 This mysterious Princess had already conquered 
 the hearts of half the inhabitants of the town. 
 Much talk was going on. I found a great many 
 Poles and persons of different nationalities at the 
 hotel I had chosen, who formed part of the Prin- 
 cess's retinue. All these personages fought shy 
 of me at first, and showed great distrust, but on 
 learning who I was, and that, in my joy at my 
 miraculous preservation, I wished to go immedi- 
 ately on board the squadron of Count Orloff, they 
 ceased to fear me, and Avithout reserve began to 
 tell me all about the Princess. They even offered 
 to procure me an audience, if I wished it. "But 
 who is she? and where has she lived until now?" 
 I asked some of her folloAvers. 
 
 " She is the daughter of your late Empress 
 Elizabeth, by a secret marriage with Count 
 Razoumovski," was the answer. " In her child- 
 hood she was carried to the frontiers of Persia, 
 and has since, under different assumed names, 
 lived at Kiel, Berlin, London, and many other 
 places. In Paris she was Dame D'Azov, and in 
 Germany and here in Ragusa she bears the title 
 of the Countess of Pinneberg. German princes 
 and others have wooed her, the French Court 
 assigned her apartments at their consul's, and 
 were quite ready to give her aid and protection." 
 
24 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 All this troubled me greatly. " Kiel ! IJerlin !" 
 thought I. " Kiel is in Holstein. It played a most 
 important part in the history of Anna and El iza- 
 beth, the daughters of Peter the Great. Is it 
 possible that in Petersburg no importance is 
 attached to all this ? What will be done when all 
 is known about this aspirant to the throne ? " 
 
 The Poles then offered to take me to be pre- 
 sented to the Countess of Pinneberg. I dressed 
 myself, trimmed my moustache and beard properly, 
 and powdered, perfumed, and curled my hair. I 
 met with every attention at the house of the 
 Countess. The Hofmarshall, Baron Korf, led 
 me into the reception room. I looked about me, 
 and noticed that the walls were tapestried with 
 blue silk brocade, and that the furniture was 
 upholstered in pink satin. All at once I heard 
 steps and a gay voice. 
 
 The Princess Elizabeth entered the room, 
 surrounded by a brilliant retinue. I learned 
 afterwards who these were. Her very devoted 
 friend, the celebrated Prince Radzivill, in a blue 
 velvet Icaftan 1 literally blazing with diamonds; 
 near him his sister, the beautiful Countess of 
 Moravia, and the Princess Sangoushko. After 
 these came Count Pototski, in a beautiful red 
 1 A Persian garment worn }>y Russian m< a. 
 
/ HAVE AN AUDIENCE WITH THE PRINCESS. 25 
 
 kountouslca, 1 all embroidered with gold. The 
 count was then at the head of the Polish confed- 
 eration, our enemy. Next came the proud and 
 rich Starosta Pinski, Count Prgezdetski, and near 
 him stood the influential young confederate, the 
 famous duellist, Oharnomski, with several of 
 Radzivill's officers. Pototski and Prgezdetski 
 wore ribbons and stars. I noticed that the Prin- 
 cess was dressed in an amazon of yellow silk, 
 with gold embroidery, and that it was covered 
 with black ffauze : that she wore a small white 
 hat with black ostrich feathers, and a pink 
 mantle trimmed with blonde, and that at her belt 
 were a pair of very small pistolettes of magnifi- 
 cent workmanship. She held a riding- whip in 
 her hand, for she was just going to start for a 
 ride on horseback. The proud Polish magnates 
 addressed the Princess as " Altesse," and when 
 she sat down, remained standing; and in answer- 
 ing her questions bowed so low that they almost 
 seemed to be kneeling. 
 
 I must confess that the Princess greatly im- 
 pressed me. 1 saw before me a beauty of the 
 first order, between twenty-three and twenty- 
 four years of age, taller than the generality of 
 people, graceful, slender, with lovely auburn 
 
 1 A Polish garment. 
 
26 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Lair, a very fair skin, beautiful pink cheeks, and 
 a few freckles, which rather suited her style of 
 beauty. Her eyes were hazel, very large and 
 open ; one of them rather squinted, and thus gave 
 her an arch and playful look. But, what was 
 far more important, as a child, and later on as a 
 youth, I had often looked upon the portraits of 
 the late Empress Elizabeth ; and now on examin- 
 ing the Princess closely I was struck by the like- 
 ness to them. 
 
 The Princess noticed my confusion with evi- 
 dent pleasure. Saying a few gracious words to 
 me in French, she gave me her hand to kiss, 
 and having received me with all the ceremony 
 etiquette exacted, with a look dismissed her 
 retinue, and motioned me to a chair. We were 
 alone. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 MY INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCESS. 
 
 Aftek having exchanged a few phrases — we 
 spoke French, but I noticed that the Princess let 
 fall many Italian exclamations — we both fell into 
 a most awkward silence. 
 
 " You are a Russian officer — a sailor ? ' ' asked 
 the Princess. 
 
 " Just so — Your — Serene Highness," I an- 
 swered, hesitating a little, not knowing how to 
 address her. 
 
 " I know that you have highly distinguished 
 yourself. Your name made a noise in the world 
 after Chesma," she continued; "and to crown all, 
 you have suffered a long imprisonment." 
 
 I was greatly agitated, and remained silent ; 
 she also paused. At last she began again, and 
 even though so many years have elapsed, I seem 
 to hear that low, charming contralto voice of 
 hers, — 
 
 " Listen," — said she. " I am a Russian princess, 
 
 27 
 
28 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 the daughter of your once beloved empress. It 
 is true, is it not, that my mother, the daughter 
 of Peter the Great, was much loved ? I, both 
 by blood and by her testament, am her only 
 heiress." 
 
 "Yes. But you know," I at last ventured to 
 say, " that there now reigns the no less beloved 
 Empress Ekaterina the Great." 
 
 " I know, I know," interrupted the Princess, 
 " how all powerful and idolized by her people the 
 present empress is ; and it is not for me — poor, 
 weak, and abandoned by all, torn from the 
 Imperial house, and from the land of my birth — 
 to try to dispute the throne with her. I am the 
 most devoted of her slaves." 
 
 " Then what are you seeking ? what are you 
 expecting ? " I asked with astonishment. 
 
 " Protection, and that my rights may be re- 
 spected." 
 
 " Excuse me," I returned ; "but you must first 
 prove your birth and your rights." 
 
 " I have the proofs here," the Princess replied ; 
 and, hastily rising, she opened the drawer of a 
 Buhl side-table, with silver incrustations. " Here 
 is the testament of my grandfather, Peter I., and 
 this one is my mother's, Elizabeth's." 
 
 The Princess tendered me a French version 
 
THE INTERVIEW. 29 
 
 of the papers mentioned. I looked tliem over 
 hastily. 
 
 " But these are only copies," said I ; " mere 
 translations." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; but make your mind easy : the 
 originals are in safe hands. . . . How would it 
 be possible to carry such important documents 
 about with me; the risk would be too great," 
 answered the Princess, turning her head a little 
 from me. Then she moved to the other side 
 of the room, where, in heavy gilt frames, hung 
 two oil paintings : one a remarkably good copy 
 of the portrait of the late EmjDress Elizabeth 
 Petrowna, with a small crown upon her head ; 
 the other that of the Princess iioav standing: 
 before me. 
 
 " Do you see the likeness ? ' she said, looking 
 at me. 
 
 " Well, yes, there is a likeness. I noticed it as 
 soon as I came in," I answered. " Allow me to 
 ask how long ago that portrait was taken ? " 
 
 " This very year, at Venice. . . . The cele- 
 brated Piacetti painted my intended bridegroom's 
 portrait, the Prince Radzivill's, and begged to 
 be allowed to paint mine at the same time." 
 
 " Mysterious coincidence ! ! I exclaimed, with 
 uncontrollable agitation ; " we see things past all 
 
30 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 imagining. The dead rise out of their graves. 
 There beyond the Volga the Emperor Peter III., 
 buried in the face of all the nation ; l here, un- 
 expected, undivined, the daughter of the Empress 
 Elizabeth." 
 
 " Do not, if you please, confound me with 
 Pougachoff," answered the Princess, slightly red- 
 dening ; " although he gives himself out as the 
 Emperor, coins his money with the legend Rerfi- 
 vivus et Vltor (the risen Avenger), still, as yet, he 
 is only my lord-lieutenant in that part of the 
 country." 
 
 " How so ? " I answered, quite astonished. 
 " Then you also confess that he is an impostor ? ' 
 
 " Do not ask who he is," mysteriously answered 
 the Princess ; " afterwards you shall learn all ; 
 the time has not yet come. He has already con- 
 quered many towns — Kasan, Orenburg, Saratov — 
 and all the shores of the Volga. I know nothing 
 of his past. Let God be his judge; but I — I 
 
 1 Seven days after the accession to the throne of Ekaterina 
 II. her husband, Peter III., died, it is supposed, a violent 
 death. Some time after a simple Cossack, named Pouga- 
 choff, an escaped convict from the mines of Siberia (whose 
 torn nostrils showed that his crime had been murder), suc- 
 ceeded in raising the whole of the Urals (such was the 
 credulity of Russians at that time) by giving himself out as 
 Peter III. 
 
IVAN SHOUVALOFF. 31 
 
 am really and truly the daughter of the Empress 
 Elizabeth, and cousin to the Emperor Peter III." 
 
 "But who was your father ? ' I ventured to 
 ask. 
 
 " Is it possible that you do not guess ?" she an- 
 swered, slightly frowning. " Alexis Razoumovski, 
 who was married secretly to my mother. My 
 childhood I passed travelling from one place to 
 another ; but it is quite indistinct even to me. 
 I remember a retired little village in the South 
 of Russia, from which I was carried off. They 
 would, if they could, have effaced from my mind 
 every remembrance of the past ; and to that end 
 they lavished money upon me and took me 
 about from place to place. Count Shouvaloff, ap- 
 parently, was acquainted with the circumstances. 
 Not long ago, when travelling in Europe, he 
 expressed the wish to see me, and we met se- 
 cretly." 
 
 " What ! you saw the Count Shouvaloff ? 
 Where ? ' I exclaimed, amazed, as I recollected 
 that not a few people looked upon him as her 
 father. 
 
 " I met him at the waters of Spa. . . . Friends 
 warned me of that celebrated Russian traveller, 
 but I could not refuse him. I found him to be 
 an elderly person, rather stout, and bearing traces 
 
32 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 of no common beauty. His dress was most 
 costly. He came to me under an assumed name, 
 and when speaking with me sorrowfully fixed 
 his eyes upon me and attentively examined my 
 features. I could see he was very agitated. I 
 learned afterwards that he was my late mother's 
 favourite, Ivan Shouvaloff. I really cannot tell 
 why he looked so moved. It is not for me, of 
 course, — as you may well understand, — to say. 
 That secret my mother took to her grave, with 
 many others;-" 
 
 The Princess was silent ; I also. 
 
 " Whose protection, whose help, do you seek ? ' 
 I at last ventured to ask, troubled with so many 
 impressions. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TEE PRINCESS ASKS ME TO ASSIST HER. 
 
 The Princess locked the paper in a casket, put it 
 away, took up a fan, and again sitting down, 
 besfan looking out of the window. 
 
 " Are you willing to help me ? ' she asked very 
 seriously, instead of answering my question. 
 
 I knew not what to answer. 
 
 " Are you willing to give me, should I need it, 
 every help in your power? " 
 
 " But what sort of help ? " 
 
 " Well now, you see, should the Empress 
 Ekaterina be willing to act conscientiously and 
 without strife peacefully to divide the empire 
 with me," — the Princess uttered this very slowly 
 and distinctly, — " I am ready to agree to any- 
 thing in reason. I will give up to her the 
 north, with Petersburg, all the Baltic provinces, 
 and all the province of Moscow. I shall retain 
 for myself the Caucasus — practically all the south 
 
 — oh ! I love the south — and part of the west. 
 
 33 D 
 
34 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Oli ! be quite sure I shall respect a peaceful 
 division. I shall be quite satisfied with the ar- 
 rangement. I shall people my dominions ; I shall 
 arrange all in my own Fatherland. You will 
 see I am a masteritsa. 1 First of all, of course, 
 I shall arrange matters in Oukraine and Poland. 
 Of course you are from Oukraine ? " she asked 
 me suddenly, fixing her eyes on me ; " and I 
 passed my childhood there. In case Ekaterina 
 should not agree," continued she, frowning, " of 
 course, nothing remains for me but to try the 
 force of arms. I intend going to Constantinople, 
 to the Sultan. He expects me. I shall lead his 
 army on to the Balkans, and on the borders of the 
 Danube shall meet the army of Ekaterina. Then 
 I will have my revenge. I shall find enough 
 people willing to help me ; all the discontented — 
 for instance, the commodore of the fleet, — Orloff ! 
 Eh ! what do you say to that ? " 
 
 (( Orloff ! " I repeated in amazement. 
 
 " Of course ; he himself. You are astonished, 
 eh ? ' answered the Princess, fanning herself 
 and looking me boldly in the face. " Yes ; what 
 do you say to that ? " 
 
 " Excuse me, Your Grace, but I cannot help 
 
 1 Lit "mistress-woman," i.e., a clever manager, one quite 
 capable of conducting her affairs. 
 
THE PLANS OF THE PRINCESS. 35 
 
 speaking out my earnest conviction that all this 
 is but a child's dream. On what do you found 
 your hopes of such — excuse me the expression — 
 such treason from the count ? " 
 
 " Treason ! " — cried out the Princess, suddenly 
 reddening ; " but, of course, you must be excused. 
 You were so long a prisoner, there is a great- 
 deal for you to learn " ; and she contemptuously 
 smiled, nervously playing with her fan. " The 
 power and the influence of the Orloffs have 
 greatly fallen ; their sworn and hidden foes, the 
 Pfmins, * are now in the ascendency. The em- 
 press's favourite, Gregory Orloif, allow me to tell 
 you, has been already replaced by another ; he, in 
 his anger, broke off the negotiations begun with 
 the Sultan, and flew from the banks of the 
 Danube to Petersburg. But he was not received 
 at court, but exiled to Kevel. Ah ! you are 
 astonished. "Well, learn still further. Your 
 chief, Count Alexis Orloif, his feelings as a 
 brother insulted, no longer hides his opinions : 
 he is ripe for revenge ; and there is no doubt, 
 of course, that he can be very useful to me. You 
 see, what news ! I have already sent a letter 
 to the Count Alexis, and a short manifesto." 
 
 1 The Panins were, and are, a celebrated noble family 
 holding various court appointments. 
 
36 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " A manifesto ! but what about ? " 
 
 " I£ Orloff decides on taking my part, I ad- 
 vise him then to proclaim my manifesto to the 
 fleet, take me on board, and stand up for my 
 rights." 
 
 " But that is impossible. Excuse me," I tried 
 to answer ; " your actions are bold, but you have 
 not reflected enough." 
 
 " Why do you think so ? " asked the Princess, 
 astonished. " The malcontents are seeking re- 
 venge, the forgotten recompense for their well- 
 known services. To Orloff alone — and that every 
 one knows — to him alone Ekaterina owes her 
 throne." 
 
 The Princess rose, walked up and down the 
 room, and at last threw the window open. She 
 was nearly stifled. She began again explaining 
 her plan in its smallest details : how she hoped, 
 with the aid of the fleet, to invade Russia. She 
 would listen to none of my arguments. It seemed 
 as if nothing could convince her. It was plainly 
 visible that this capricious, spoiled, self-willed 
 woman, whose feelings burst forth like lava 
 hidden under ashes, thought she could mea- 
 sure her strength with the most desj3erate of 
 men. 
 
 "You doubt; you are astonished," she ex- 
 
THE PLANS OF THE PRINCESS. 37 
 
 claimed, with a nervous tremor. " You ask why 
 I believe in the success of my enterprise ? Is it 
 possible that you do not know ? . . . Already 
 many of your countrymen side with me ; I am in 
 correspondence with numbers of them. 
 But you — are the first Russian, the first really 
 worthy man, that I see throwing in your lot with 
 me. ... I shall never forget the fact ; it is 
 specially dear to me. . . . Believe me, I 
 shall rise victorious out of every difficulty ; 
 the darkness will clear away. ... Is it 
 possible that you do not know that Russia is torn 
 asunder by her battles, the pressgang for the 
 recruits, the fires, the plagues ? Is it possible 
 you do not know that the country is worn out 
 with her taxations, that on the borders of the 
 Volga there rages a terrible, bloody insurrection ? 
 Your army is badly clothed, and still worse fed ; 
 ... all are discontented, all grumble. . . . 
 You are not going to tell me that you, a lieu- 
 tenant in the Russian navy, know nothing of 
 all this ? Yes, all the nation will hail me with 
 delight; the army will meet with joy a Russian- 
 born princess, Elizabeth II., just as they once 
 met Ekaterina." 
 
 I was indio-nant at her childish and blind con- 
 fidence in herself. 
 
38 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA, 
 
 f J 5 5 
 
 " Well, let it be so. Do you speak Russian ? 
 I decided on asking her. 
 
 The Princess blushed. " I do not speak it. I 
 have, of course, forgotten it, unfortunately," she 
 answered, coughing. " In my infancy, when but 
 three years old, I was taken from Oukraine to 
 Siberia, where they nearly poisoned me ; from 
 there into Persia, where 1 was placed with an old 
 woman in Ispahan, who took me to live in Bagdad, 
 where a certain M. Fournier taught me French. 
 So it would have been rather strange 
 if I did remember my own language." 
 
 I still continued sitting, my eyes fixed on the 
 ground. I could not raise them to her face. 
 
 " And Dimitri Tzarevitch, 1 whom all Moscow 
 met so joyfully, did he speak Russian ? " asked 
 the Princess contemptuously. " Besides, what 
 
 1 Dimitri Tzarevitch was the son of Ivan the Terrible, the 
 last of the house of Ruric, and was said to have been killed 
 at the age of nine at Ouglitch. He of whom the Princess 
 speaks was a pretender, a runaway novice, so it is said. 
 But historians differ as to this. Some say that when Boris 
 Godounoff (the Russian Oliver Cromwell) planned to kill 
 Dimitri, some faithful friends hid the Tzarevitch, and sent 
 him to the Polish Court, where he was brought up, and that 
 afterwards he came into Russia with many adherents and an 
 army of several thousands, the majority of whom were Poles. 
 He reigned less than a year, being killed during an insurrec- 
 tion, 1595-9G. 
 
MY ASSISTANCE INVOKED. 39 
 
 can languages prove ? Children learn and unlearn 
 everything so easily." 
 
 "Dimitri spoke with a ' Little Russian ' accent," 
 answered I. " And then, after all, he was but — 
 a pretender ! " 
 
 " Gran Dio ! " she exclaimed; and again cough- 
 ing, the Princess laughed. " And you're not 
 ashamed of repeating those idle tales ? Listen to 
 me, and remember my words.' : 
 
 The Princess threw herself back in her chair. 
 Bright spots appeared in her cheeks. 
 
 " Dimitri was the real tzarevitch." She said 
 this in a voice of conviction. " Yes, the real 
 tzarevitch. He was saved from the hands of 
 the assassin Grodounoff by the cleverness of those 
 around him, almost by a miracle, just as I was 
 saved from the poison they gave me in Siberia. 
 Ah ! you did not know that ? Yes, think about 
 it all a little more. Oh ! Signor Konsov, tell 
 your tales to some one else, but not to me, who 
 have studied in a strange land the genealogy of 
 our house. The Shah of Persia offered his hand 
 and his throne to me, but I refused him ; he is 
 the eternal enemy of Russia. ... I shall 
 be acknowledged. Do you hear ? They must 
 acknowledge me," said the Princess, with great 
 dignity. 
 
40 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Striking her knee with her fan, and beginning 
 again to cough, she continued, — 
 
 " I believe in the star of my destiny, and there- 
 fore I choose you as my ambassador to Count 
 Orloif. I do not exact a speedy answer. Think 
 over it, weigh well my words, and then give me 
 your decision. Yon, again I repeat, are the first 
 Russian in an honourable military position whom 
 I have met abroad. You also have suffered, and 
 also escaped from prison by a miracle. Who 
 knows ? perhaps Heaven saved you, like many 
 others, and sent you to me." 
 
 Having said this, the Princess rose, and, with 
 a most majestic salute, signified that the audience 
 was concluded. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I CONVEY A LETTER. 
 
 " What does it all mean ? Who is she ? What 
 is she ? A pretender, or a Russian grand 
 duchess ? ' thought I, as, full of contending 
 thoughts, I left the room of the Princess, and 
 with faltering steps passed between the persons 
 of her suite, who saluted me right and left with 
 the greatest respect. 
 
 At the perron 1 I noticed several carriage-horses, 
 adorned with velvet and feathers. On entering 
 the hotel I heard the clattering of horses' hoofs. 
 Going to the window, I saw the Princess, sur- 
 rounded by her courtiers, riding fearlessly on a 
 beautiful white horse. The cavalcade flew by on 
 the road to Rao-usa. 
 
 For several days I could not get rid of the 
 most agitating ideas. I hardly left my room, 
 walking backwards and forwards, then lying down, 
 then writing letters, only, however, to tear them 
 up again, and constantly thinking, " How could 
 
 1 Steps before a house. 
 
 41 
 
42 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 I, remembering the oath of allegiance wliicli I 
 Jiacl taken on entering the service ? What ought I 
 to do regarding the proposition of this mysterious 
 Princess ? " 
 
 One day her secretary, Charnomski, came to 
 pay me a visit. He was a smart, elegantly-dressed 
 man of about forty. He had once been very rich, 
 had been a duellist and a Lovelace, had lost all 
 his fortune at cards and in the affairs of the Con- 
 federation. He had not lost his fine manners, 
 but was very conceited and insinuating, and — 
 so rumour said — was serving the Princess because 
 he was deeply in love with her. The conversa- 
 tion turned on the Princess. He was eloquent 
 on the subject of her generosity, her fearless- 
 ness, and, having assured me on oath that all 
 she had said of her past life was true, again 
 renewed, in her name, an entreaty that I would 
 side with her. 
 
 " But whose daughter is she ? who was her 
 father ? " I asked, rather drily. " You only speak 
 in her favour, but there must be proofs. Every- 
 thing is so very doubtful." 
 
 Charnomski reddened, and was silent several 
 minutes. 
 
 It seemed to me at that time that this 
 Princess's Ganymede curled and pomatumed in 
 
A VISIT FROM CHARNOMSKL 43 
 
 the last fashion, with his diamond ear-rings, was 
 rouged. 
 
 " Good heavens ! what doubts ! Her father — 
 do you not know it yourself? — was the Count 
 Alexis Razoumovski," said this wily diplomatist, 
 regaining his composure. " But if you desire it, 
 sir lieutenant, I can give you all the details. 
 You see, the Empress Elizabeth, after her secret 
 marriage with the count, had several chil- 
 dren " 
 
 " Oh ! all that's nonsense ; no one really knows 
 anything about it," I answered. 
 
 " Of course it was a rather delicate affair, and 
 was kept a great secret," continued Charnomski. 
 " You are right, how should every one know ? 
 But I relate all this because I have it from 
 a true source. What became of the other chil- 
 dren, and whether any are still living, . 
 is not known. 
 
 " The Princess Elizabeth, when a child of two 
 years old, was brought to the relations of Razou- 
 movski, the Cossacks Daragan, to their property 
 in Oukraine, Daraganovka, which the neighbours, 
 countrymen of the new parvenus, styled, in their 
 own fashion, " Tarakanovka." The Dowager 
 Empress Elizabeth, and after her all the court, 
 in fun called the child the Princess Tmoutara- 
 
44 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 kanova. 1 At first she was not neglected. She 
 was often inquired after. Everything that she 
 needed was always sent to her. But afterwards, 
 especially during her travels, she was lost sight 
 of, and finally quite forgotten." 
 
 The word " Tarakanovka " made me shudder 
 in spite of myself. It sounded to me like a voice 
 of the past. It reminded me of my far-off child- 
 hood, of our own little manor, Konsovka, and my 
 late grandmother, Agraffena Ylassovna, who had 
 known much of the past and present court ; of the 
 wonderful luck which had fallen to the lot of the 
 shepherd of Lemechevski, who unexpectedly had 
 become, instead of the singer, Aloshki Razouma, 2 
 a count, and the privately married husband of the 
 empress ; of the accession to the throne of the 
 new empress; of the attempt of Merovitch, and 
 of many other events. Through him my grand - 
 
 1 " Tarakanova '' and "Tarakanovka' 1 have the same 
 meaning, and apply equally to persons and property, but the 
 latter, being the more playful term, is used for a child. 
 " Tmoutarakanova," or " Tmou tarakanovka," was a pet name. 
 It is the name of a town opposite Kertch, and of a Prince 
 whose capital it was. Tarakan means " cockroach." 
 
 2 Aloshki was a native of Oukraine, but was brought 
 thence to sing in the choir of the Imperial chapel. His 
 splendid voice first attracted the attention of the Empress 
 Elizabeth Petrowna. His handsome figure and beautiful face 
 did the rest. 
 
RECOLLECTIONS. 45 
 
 father, Irakli Konsov, who was a neighbour of 
 the Razoumovskis in the village Lemesha, was 
 loaded with favours, rose in his service, and died 
 in a very high position. 
 
 I remembered another very hazy circumstance. 
 I went once with my grandmother to a name's- 
 sake day party given by some relations. Our 
 road lay across a village near Baturin, the resi- 
 dence of the Hetman 1 Kiryl Razoumovski. It 
 was a lovely and calm summer's evening, and we 
 were talking together, grandmother and I. From 
 the open carriage, on both sides of the road, in 
 the twilight we could see the weeping willows, 
 and, scattered here and there between them, the 
 white cottages and windmills, and above the 
 willows and the cottages the church steeple. 
 My grandmother, musing quietly, crossed herself, 
 and then thoughtfully, gently, as if to herself, 
 all at once pronounced the word " Tarakanchic." 2 
 
 " What did you say, grandmother ? ; I asked. 
 
 " Tarakanchic." 
 
 " What is that ? " 
 
 1 The title given to the chief over all the Cossacks in 
 Little Russia. 
 
 2 A pet name. Nearly all family names admit of this 
 suffix. The Russians have any number of pet names and 
 diminutives. " Aloshki" (p. 44), for instance, is the diminu- 
 tive for Alexis, 
 
46 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " Well, I will tell you, moil anye" she an- 
 swered. " Here, a long time ago, in this same 
 village, lived a mysterious person — a lovely, 
 graceful, and fair child, as fair as a lily ; but she 
 did not stay long, and where she disappeared to 
 no one knows." 
 
 " But who was it ? " asked I. 
 
 " Red Riding Hood," answered my grand- 
 mother, lowering her voice. " I suppose, as in 
 the fairy tale, the cruel wolves have eaten poor 
 Tmoutarakanovka. " 1 
 
 My grandmother after this spoke no more, and 
 I, believing the wolves had really eaten the child, 
 forbore to ask any more questions. 
 
 But now I clearly remembered that lovely 
 green and willowy Tarakanovka and the myster- 
 ious tale of my grandmother. That century was 
 rich in fairy-like lore, and one might be pardoned 
 for believing in all sorts of miracles. 
 
 " Well, have you decided, sir ? " broke in Char- 
 nomski, seeing that, lost in thought, I was silent. 
 
 " Explain to me just what the Princess expects 
 of me." 
 
 " Only one thing, sir lieutenant, only one 
 thing," answered the wily envoy, getting up and 
 
 1 The Russian version of this nursery tale is rather 
 different to the English. 
 
CHARNOMSKPS MESSAGE. 47 
 
 bowing. " To take this letter of the Princess to 
 Count Orion ; that is the only thing she asks of 
 you. . . . Tell the count how and where you 
 met the Russian Grand Duchess Elizabeth, and 
 with what impatience she awaits his answer to her 
 first letter and manifesto. On the result of your 
 mission depends her further course of action 
 and her departure for the Sultan's court. 
 
 Charnomski took from his breast pocket a 
 letter, and handed it to me. 
 
 " That is her only request," he repeated, bow- 
 ing again, and insinuatingly looking me in the 
 face, with a half-look of entreaty in his large 
 grey eyes. 
 
 After having thought it all over, I felt that I 
 ought not to refuse, and I took the letter. My 
 duty as an officer demanded that I should let the 
 count know everything. He must decide what 
 should be done ; that would be his affair. 
 
 « Very well," answered I. " I do not know 
 who your Princess is, but I undertake to deliver 
 her letter in safety." 
 
 Having waited some time, I found an oppor- 
 tunity of sailing to my destination. I presented 
 myself once more to the Princess, made my 
 adieux, and left Ragusa. The very same day 
 the Prince Radzivill gave, in honour of the 
 
48 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Princess, his fairy-like and long-renowned fete. 
 For a long time in Europe the newspapers could 
 talk of nothing* else. The extravagant and 
 generous prince, madly in love with the Princess, 
 had already been lavishing his wealth upon her, 
 like an Indian nabob ; but this time he surpassed 
 himself. The fete lasted a long time ; the most 
 precious wines flowed like water. There was 
 music, cannon were fired in the gardens, and a 
 beautiful display of fireworks of more than 1,000 
 rockets astonished all the town. At the end of 
 the feast, the knightly lover suddenly announced 
 that the dances would continue till the morning, 
 and that at dawn all the revellers, to refresh 
 themselves, should see a real winter, and should 
 drive home, not in carriages, but in sleighs. 
 On the morrow, when the guests came out on 
 the perron, the neighbouring streets were really 
 quite white, and to all appearance covered with 
 snow. During the night busy workers had spread 
 a thick layer of salt over everything, and the 
 joyous, noisy crowd of masques, amidst repeated 
 salutes of cannon and the shouts of the newly- 
 awakened citizens, were really driven home to 
 the musical sound of the sleigh bells. 
 
 I took my departure for Italy, puzzling my 
 brain with various questions. " Was this 
 
/ LEAVE RAGUSA. 49 
 
 Princess really the daughter of the Empress 
 Elizabeth ? Did she believe in the truth of what 
 she said herself, or did she spread these rumours 
 on purpose?" As far as I could remember the 
 expression of her face, there appeared from time 
 to time, especially in her eyes, something it 
 seemed to me almost impossible to catch — a look 
 of indecision, mingled with a gleam of hope. 
 
 In taking with me her letter and the parti- 
 culars I had learnt, I was prompted by feelings 
 of duty, as an officer of Her Majesty Ekaterina, 
 but I was half won over by pity for the Princess 
 as a lovely and helpless woman. 
 
 E 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I DELIVER A LETTER. 
 
 I landed at Ancona. From there I started for 
 Bologna, which I had heard the commander had 
 chosen for his headquarters. The Count Alexis 
 Orloff, although the hero of Chesma, hated the 
 sea from the bottom of his heart, and having 
 given over the command of the squadron to his- 
 vice-admiral, the first flag-officer, Y ice- Admiral 
 Samuel Greig, he spent most of his time on land- 
 To those beneath him he was ever amiable and 
 good. He was very fond of simple jokes, and 
 surrounded as he was by almost Imperial luxury,, 
 was always attentive and easy of access. The 
 life of the count at Moscow, before the campaign 
 in the Greek waters, which had covered his name 
 with glory, had remained graven on my mind.. 
 The Orloffs were no strangers to our family. 
 My late father in days gone by had been their 
 companion-in-arms, and I, in going backwards 
 and forwards from the naval schools to my 
 birth-place, used very often to spend long holidays 
 in their Muscovite house. The Count Alexis- 
 
 50 
 
COUNT ALEXIS ORLOFF. 51 
 
 especially was a favourite of bright Moscow ; 
 the gigantic and splendid figure of Count 
 Alexana, as all Moscow called him, full of robust 
 health, his fine Grecian eyes, his gay and care- 
 less manners, his enormous wealth, all tended to 
 attract to his hospitable halls all that Moscow 
 could boast of as regards aristocracy, nobility, 
 and also almost all other classes. 
 
 The house of the Count Alexis, as I well 
 remember it now, stood not far from the gates 
 of Moscow, and not far from the " Crimean 
 Ford," and very near to his property in the 
 environs of Moscow, the village Niaskouchnavo 
 (the " not gloomy " village). 
 
 The Muscovites could admire in the house of 
 the count the splendid gobelin tapestries on the 
 walls ; the marvellous, graceful Dutch -tile stoves 
 on gilt pedestals ; the magnificent collection of 
 old arms and armour. His town garden was 
 ornamented with ponds, lakes, arbours, cascades, 
 a menagerie, and an aviary. At the princely 
 gates, in one of the windows of the lodge-keeper's 
 cottage, hung a golden cage with a parrot in it, 
 who would scream at the idlers, " Long live our 
 little Mother Empress ! ' At the fabulous feasts 
 of the Count Alexis, very often under the costly 
 lemon and orange trees, brought from his 
 
■52 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 hothouses, tables would be spread, at which 
 more than 300 people would sit down. A true 
 Russian at heart, the count used to like owing; 
 his guests the pleasure of looking on at boxings, 
 wrestlings, minstrelsies, himself often not dis- 
 daining to take part in them. With his hand he 
 could bend a horseshoe, tie a poker in a knot, 
 or catch a bull by the horns and throw him 
 down ; and to these sights he would sometimes 
 invite all Moscoav. 
 
 On one occasion, to have a ov>od laugh at 
 the rising passion of the fops for pince-nez and 
 spectacles, on the 1st of May he sent on the 
 public promenade at Sokolnika one of his atten- 
 dants, dressed in a riding costume, and leading 
 amongst the crowd of young dandies a poor, 
 crippled, and half -blind cur, with great tin spec- 
 tacles on his nose, and a card hung round his 
 neck with the following sentence in large letters, 
 " And look, he's only three years old ! " 
 
 But it was his splendidly arranged hunting 
 meets and horse races which made him a centre 
 of attraction to all classes of society. Not one 
 horse in all Moscow could be compared to his 
 " Rissak," 1 a mixed breed of Arabian, English, 
 
 1 To this day this breed remains unrivalled, and it is 
 called, after the Count, " Orlovski Rissak." 
 
THE COUNT AND HIS HORSES. 53 
 
 and Frisian horses. At the races held in front 
 of the house at the " Crimean Ford " I can even 
 now remember how the Count Alexano, in the 
 winter in his tiny sleighs, and in summer in 
 his racing: droshies would lead with his own 
 hands his spotlessly white horse " Smitanka," 
 or her rival, the dapple-grey " Amazonka." 
 Crowds would be running after the count when 
 he, gathering the reins in his hand in his 
 romanovski touloup, 1 or his damask coat, would 
 appear at the gates on his snorting, white- 
 maned beauty, calling out to his three Simeons — 
 to his first jockey, Sainka the White, to arrange 
 the bit; to his second, Sainka the Black, to 
 tighten the stirrups; to his third, Sainka the 
 Dresdenite, to moisten the horse's mane with hvas. 
 
 The count was also playful in his correspon- 
 dence. Who does not know the letter he wrote 
 to his brother Gregory after the celebrated victory 
 of Chesma ? 
 
 " Sir, my brother, good day ! We marched on 
 the enemy, we went up to him, we caught him, 
 we felled him, we broke him, we conquered him, 
 we drowned him, we burnt him, and turned him 
 
 1 A sheepskin coat with the wool inside. The hide is em- 
 broidered with gaily-coloured silks, and being peculiarly 
 tanned, is very expensive. 
 
54 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 into ashes. And I, your humble servant, am in 
 good health. — Alexis Orloff." 
 
 Copies of this letter were in the hands of 
 every one. A born jester, a reveller, a boxer, this 
 pleasure-loving count in his young years be- 
 fore the war had never even dreamt of being a 
 sailor. Even to take the command of the fleet 
 in Italy he went by land ! He was very much 
 talked about on the accession of the empress to 
 the throne ; after the battle of Chesma he was 
 still more talked about ; but to a good many 
 he remained an enigma. At the reviews and 
 parades, at his own princely levees, Count* Alexis 
 always appeared surrounded with great pomp, 
 covered with gold, diamonds, and orders of all 
 sorts ; but in his walks in Paris he would go out 
 amongst the elegant and fastidious crowd of 
 promenaders sometimes with his head un- 
 powdered, with a little round bourgeois hat, 
 and a coat of the coarsest and commonest grey 
 cloth. I, of course, like others, could not very 
 well guess the motives which prompted him to do 
 all this. Very often even his words would be- 
 wilder you. Yes, he was a man of great mind 
 and subtle wit. I burned with impatience again 
 to see him, after so long a separation, although 
 the commission entrusted to me by the Prin- 
 
DOUBTS ABOUT MY MISSION. 55 
 
 cess troubled me very mucli. Before my de- 
 parture from Ragusa I had let the count know 
 by letter of my escape from the Turks, and also 
 that I was bringing him news of a very important 
 person, whom I had discovered by accident and 
 had met. 
 
 My journey through Italy lasted a long time. I 
 managed to o*et a chill on the mountains, fell ill, 
 and was obliged to stay for some time at the 
 house of a charitable mao-nate. At length I 
 arrived at Bologna. After having rested from 
 my journey a little, I changed my dress, and, 
 feeling rather agitated, I approached the beautiful 
 palace of the count at Bologna. I learnt that the 
 count was at home, and sent to announce my 
 presence. After my long imprisonment, I had 
 every reason to expect a warm welcome and 
 reward; but I was rather doubtful how the 
 count would take my audience and conference 
 with the dangerous and mysterious pretender, 
 held without the permission of my chief. There 
 were two sides to the question. If I had been 
 asked to say conscientiously exactly what I 
 thought of the Princess, I should have found 
 it very difficult to give a truthful answer. At 
 Ragusa I had heard many doubtful things of her 
 past life, about mysterious ties she had formed. 
 
56 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 But what did her past life matter to any one ? 
 Who knows what ties she might have been in- 
 duced to make to escape from her gloomy fate ? 
 And who knows if such ties really existed ? 
 
 The count received me directly. I was led 
 through a long suite of richly -decorated drawing- 
 rooms and salons, first on the ground-floor and 
 then upstairs. 
 
 At this time the handsome hero of Chesma, 
 Count Alexis, was in his thirty-eighth year. Not 
 only at home, but in a strange land, he loved to 
 spend his time with doves, being passionately fond 
 of these birds. On my arrival he was sitting at 
 the very top of his house, where he ordered the 
 footman at once to bring me. What a sight met 
 my eyes ! This celebrated man — so clever, so 
 strong and so stately, before whom all other men 
 seemed but pigmies — was seated on a common 
 wooden chair at the dusty little window. Having 
 run away from the heat, he was seated with only 
 his shirt on ! and was drinking out of a mug 
 some iced wine, at the same time waving his 
 handkerchief at a brood of doves, who were 
 pirouetting about the roof. " Ah ! Konchic ; l how 
 are you ? ' ' said he, turning for a minute towards 
 me. " Well, what ? run away, eh ? Well, con- 
 1 Chic. — A diminutive expressive of endearment. 
 
HOW THE COUNT RECEIVES ME. 57 
 
 gratulate you, old fellow. Sit down. Oil ! look 
 there ; are they not a lovely couple ? What do you 
 think of them ? Ah ! the rascals ; there they are 
 turning and twisting. Ah, tourmelins * ah ! ' 
 
 Agfain he waved his handkerchief, and I, not 
 finding any chair to sit upon, began looking at 
 him with curiosity. 
 
 The count in these last years of peace had 
 grown stouter, his neck was quite like a bull's, 
 his shoulders like Jupiter's or Bacchus's, his face 
 quite striking, with its look of health and daunt- 
 lessness. 
 
 " Well ! what are you staring at ? " said he, 
 standing and looking at me. " I was amusing my- 
 self with birds, while you were sitting with the 
 Turks. Here they are all clay-coloured and black, 
 but the tuberous ones, like ours, old fellow, are 
 few, and not common. Yes, they can take letters 
 for a longer distance than 100 versts. Marvellous! 
 If we could but breed them in Russia! Well now, 
 tell me everything about the prison and about 
 the travels." 
 
 I began my narration. The count listened to me 
 at first very inattentively, all the while looking 
 out of the window, but afterwards he grew more 
 
 1 A species of dove, remarkably short-beaked and short- 
 winged. In flying they turn over and over. 
 
58 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 interested ; and when I touched upon the subject 
 of the person whom I had met at Ragusa, and 
 handed him the letter, the count threw a handful 
 of seed from a plate at the assembled doves, and 
 when they all flew oif in a crowd up on the roof, 
 stood up. 
 
 " This news, my dear fellow, is such that we 
 must talk seriously. Let's get down from this 
 mast into the company cabin." We went down- 
 stairs and afterwards into the garden. The count 
 on the way had dressed himself, and given orders 
 that no one was to be received. We walked a 
 long while backwards and forwards in the 
 avenues. While I answered his questions I 
 looked attentively into the expressive and often 
 dreamy eyes of the count. He listened to me 
 with very great attention. 
 
 "Ah! art scheming?" said he, all at once; 
 " why, suppose she is a pretender, an adventuress. 
 Now explain," added he, sitting down on a bench. 
 " Art repeating the words of others or thine 
 own?" 
 
 I felt confused, and did not quite know what 
 to answer. 
 
 " All the tales of her past life are so strange," 
 said I, " so much like a fairy-tale — Siberia, poison, 
 escape from Persia, correspondence with all the 
 
A " VAGABONDS 59 
 
 crowned heads of Europe — that I have con- 
 scientiously acted as a faithful servant of the 
 empress, looked well about me, as I cannot, I 
 must say, hide my doubts. 
 
 66 Agreed," said the count, " Of course, you 
 can look at it in two ways ; but the most im- 
 portant fact is that she is known of at St. 
 Petersburg. They have written to me about her, 
 speaking of her as a 'vagabond,' who has taken 
 to herself a name and genealogy to which she 
 has no right." 
 
 The count was silent for some time. 
 
 " H'm ! nice vagabond ! " added he, as if to him- 
 self. " Puzzling, of course. Let it be so ; I do not 
 dispute it. . . . But why have they decided on 
 exacting her extradition ? and, in case it should 
 be refused, on taking her by force, even if it is 
 necessary to bombard the citadel of Ragusa ? No 
 one acts like that with a common vagabond. Such 
 a person you just catch — a stone on the neck and 
 in the water." 
 
 I felt as if cold water were running down my 
 back at these words of the count. I vividly 
 remember that eventful June day. 
 
 " Well, what, old man— you see yourself it's no 
 vagabond — what do you think about it ? JSo, 
 straight out with it, hide nothing." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WE WILL BEFRIEND HER. 
 
 The words of the count filled me with astonish- 
 ment. Involuntarily I remembered then the 
 intelligence the Princess had given me of the 
 fallen favours of the Orloffs, of the exile of the 
 late favourite to Revel, and of the rising fortunes 
 of their enemies. Was it grief, was it passion 
 which blinded the count ? or did he really 
 believe in the descent of the Princess ? I really 
 did not know, but I could clearly see that he was 
 not throwing his words to the winds, and that a 
 great struggle was taking place in his heart. 
 
 " Excuse my impertinence, Your Grace," said 
 I impatiently, " but if you bid me, I'll hide 
 nothing from you. The person I saw, I must 
 say, resembles very much the late Empress Eliza- 
 beth. Who does not know the portrait of that 
 empress ? The same imposing profile, the white,, 
 delicate complexion, the same dark arched eye- 
 brows, the same majestic figure, and, more im- 
 portant than all, — the same eyes. I cannot help 
 
 60 
 
AN IMPORTANT STATE AFFAIR. 61 
 
 relating to you what my late grandmother in 
 Onkraine told me about the relatives of the 
 Kazoumovskis." 
 
 " Ah ! bah ! But yourself, Konsov — you are 
 from Batumi ! " excitedly said the count. " Well, 
 well, and what did your grandmother tell you ? " 
 
 I told him all I knew about Dara^anovka, and 
 about the mysterious child who had once lived 
 there. 
 
 " Ah ! that's where this Tarakanovka comes 
 from," said the count. " True ! true ! Yes ! yes ! 
 I remember now I heard something about a 
 Tmoutarakanski x princess." 
 
 He rose from the bench. I could see that he 
 was very much agitated. Crossing his hands 
 behind his back, and with his head hanging down, 
 he began walking backwards and forwards on the 
 garden path. I respectfully followed him at a 
 little distance. 
 
 " Konsov, you are now no longer a boy ! ' said 
 Alexis Gregorevitch, turning his keen eagle eyes 
 upon me. " This is a most important State affair. 
 Be careful, not only of your actions and your 
 words, but even of your very thoughts. Can you 
 swear to be silent on everything ? " 
 
 1 There are a hundred different ways of saying Russian 
 names. 
 
62 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " Your Grace, I give you my oath." 
 
 " Well, tlien, listen, and — remember — you an- 
 swer me with your head." 1 
 
 The count stopped, and his thoughtful gaze 
 seemed to pierce my very soul ; then he added, 
 " Don't forget ; you know me of old — your 
 head ! . . ." 
 
 We crossed the garden, and sat on an isolated 
 bench. 
 
 " Of course it will not be very difficult to catch 
 this calumniated person," said the count; " you're 
 obliged to do a great deal sometimes, when you 
 are ordered to do it. But would it be honest 
 now? What do you think about it? — Mys- 
 teriously — deceitfully ? Ah ! and especially with 
 a woman. — It would be a pity now, wouldn't it ? ' 
 
 " Of course it would," answered I, in my sim- 
 plicity ; " of course we must conquer our enemies ; 
 but then openly — otherwise everybody will have 
 the risrlit to call us traitors, soul-killers." 
 
 At this minute the eyes of the count twinkled 
 very curiously. He closed them quickly, as 
 though something had blown into them. 
 
 " Of course, of course, old man, it would be 
 mean. . . . You and I are not executioners," 
 said he. "Of course they wouldn't write from 
 1 i.e. " If you play ine false, you forfeit your head." 
 
THE COUNTS INTENTIONS. 63 
 
 Petersburg for nothing; and then, who knows 
 what they think about us there ? But there now, 
 I'll be open. I received two secret envoys from 
 over there, tempting and inducing me to turn 
 traitor. . . . Could I expect such a thing? 
 Isn't it an insult, after all my long years of faith- 
 ful devotion ? Ah ! what think you of that ? ' 
 
 The frankness of the count struck me with 
 astonishment, and flattered my vanity. " What 
 a lot falls to the great of this earth ! ' thought I 
 and from the bottom of my heart I pitied the 
 count, whose fallen greatness I knew already. 
 
 Alexis Gregorevitch put several questions to 
 me about the Princess and her entourage, told 
 me he would employ me as adjutant, and dis- 
 missed me with the order to go to Bologna and 
 await his commands. I thanked him for his 
 attention, and took my leave. 
 
 The next day the count left for Livorno l to visit 
 his squadron, and remained away a whole week- 
 As I was without any money and in great want 
 of everything, it was not very pleasant for me. I 
 had no one to write to in Russia. Several more 
 days passed. At last I was summoned. 
 
 The count received me in his study. 
 
 1 Generally miswritten in English " Leghorn." 
 
64 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 "Can you guess, Konsov, what I've to tell 
 you ? " he asked me, arranging some papers. 
 
 " How can I guess the thoughts of Your 
 Grace?" 
 
 " Here's a note. Go to the purser, get some 
 money, pay your debts. Send the money to those 
 French creditors. You've ruined yourself in the 
 service. To-morrow you go to Rome." 
 
 I bowed, and awaited further orders. 
 
 " Do you know why ? " asked the count. 
 
 " I cannot guess." 
 
 " Whilst you wandered about and were ill, 
 this mysterious Princess, deserted by the volatile 
 Radzivill," said the count, "left Ragusa. At first, 
 with a Neapolitan passport, she went to Barletta, 
 lived there some time. Now she has appeared in 
 Rome as a Polish lady. Do you understand ? " 
 
 I again bowed. 
 
 " Well, now," continued the count, " I am very 
 culpable in her eyes. I have not answered her 
 two letters. But how could I, surrounded by all 
 these spies ? Answer ? I tried once or twice to 
 send her a faithful emissary, one of your own 
 companions-at-arms, but she would not receive 
 him. I pity that poor, young deserted thing, so 
 inexperienced and without any means. You'll 
 be able to see her and becfin the negotiations. I 
 
/ AM TO GO TO ROME. 65 
 
 have invited her here ; at Rome, I have heard, 
 there are several Russians. Try and get to know 
 everything that's going on ; but, first of all, shield 
 her from all enemies and all foreign influence. 
 Let her believe in us alone. We will befriend her. 
 About your own conscience, be easy ; all shall be 
 done in all mercy and according to the laws of 
 justice." 
 
 p 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 IS THE COUNT A TRAITOR? 
 
 I was overwhelmed; I was wonders truck. 
 
 " Is it possible the count can be a traitor ? ' 
 The thought new like lightning through my brain. 
 Impossible. Celebrated patriot, celebrated hero 
 of the Coup oVEtat, 1 right hand of Ekaterina? 
 Such thoughts would be unworthy. But what in 
 the world is he plotting ? Agitated by different 
 doubts, suddenly a bold and almost insolent plan 
 came into my head — that of learning the most 
 secret designs of the count. It is true that in 
 these last few days a rumour had been circulated 
 to the effect that from the north had been received 
 a secret ukase, that the count, for whom the 
 deepest regret was felt, had been recalled, and 
 the command of the fleet given to another. 
 
 "Excuse me, Your Grace," said I to the count; 
 " to-morrow I start for Rome. You have confided 
 to me a mission of the highest importance. In 
 case the Princess should agree to your conditions, 
 
 1 That, namely, which placed Ekaterina on the throne. 
 
 G6 
 
THE COUNTS INSTRUCTIONS. 67 
 
 and should accept your invitation, what will ho 
 the result of it all, if I may presume to ask you ? ' 
 
 " Oh ! what a fireship ! 1 what a leech ! " said 
 Alexis Gregorevitch, with a curl of his lip. 
 " Yes, and you sailors are all like that. Take 
 out everything, and spread it on the table. But 
 we diplomats do not care for useless prattle. 
 Live, and then you'll know. This affair will show 
 itself. But I am the true and faithful servant 
 of our Empress Ekaterina Alexeevna." 
 
 "Be generous, and forgive me, count," said 
 I. " You have confided to me, not a naval 
 mission, but a diplomatic one. It has never 
 happened to me before, and therefore I am very 
 doubtful. . . . And should this person assert 
 
 'A " 
 
 her rights ? 
 
 "Well, that's just what I'm thinking about. 
 It might easily be that she is a branch of the 
 Imperial family. In her veins flows perhaps the 
 blood of our mother Elizabeth. We must be ready 
 for anything. Do all you can, Konsov; your 
 services shall not be forgotten. But don't forget 
 one thing. You must help the Princess with 
 money, as she is a woman. You must take her out 
 of her humiliating position. . . . Who knows ? 
 
 1 i.e. " What an impatient, impulsive, hot-headed fellow ! ' 
 Compare the English idiom, " What a brick ! " 
 
68 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 perhaps to her Imperial Majesty it will not be 
 disagreeable. Our reigninsr sovereign lias a 
 heart. Oh ! sometimes it is a stone. . . . Who 
 knows ? perhaps in time it may be softer." 
 
 The count astonished me more than ever. 
 
 ""Well," thought I to myself, "what an honour 
 for me to have won the confidence of such an 
 exalted personage ! All is clear now. The 
 count is no traitor. Although his ambition, per- 
 haps, led him to murmur, still. — The favour of 
 the Orloffs is fallen, and it's evident the count 
 wishes to persuade the Princess to give up her 
 rights. " 
 
 The whole plan, explained to me by the count,, 
 became quite clear. Having prepared everything 
 for my journey, I took my departure, with the 
 most faithful resolution to fulfil the mission which 
 had been confided to me. 
 
 7f? ?fc Tfi ?fc 
 
 It was in the month of February, 1775, not 
 so very long ago for me to have suffered and 
 experienced so much. Having reached Rome, I 
 made inquiries about the emissary of the count 
 who had reached Home before me. He was a 
 lieutenant of our own squadron, and, as some 
 said, a Greek. To me it seemed more likely 
 that he, Ivan Moisaevitch Christianok by name,. 
 
CHRIS TIANOK. 69 
 
 was half German and half Jew. I handed over 
 to him the papers that had been confided to 
 my care, and began questioning him about our 
 mutual mission. As black as a beetle, small of 
 stature, restless — in fact, a most repulsive man — 
 Christianok smiled continually, spoke always in 
 a most insinuating voice, and seemed, with his 
 shifting glance, to dive at once into one's soul 
 and one's pocket. 
 
 I learnt from Christianok that the Princess had 
 taken a few rooms in Rome, on the first floor of 
 the house of Juani, on the Champs de Mars. 
 She lived there in the greatest retirement and in 
 great want. She paid for her apartment fifty 
 sequins a month, and kept only three servants. 
 She only went out to go to church, and, except- 
 ing one friend, a Jesuit abbe, and the doctor who 
 attended her, she saw no one. The emissary of 
 the count, Christianok, disguised as a beggar, 
 lounged about the house of Juani for more than 
 a fortnight, trying in vain to get a glimpse of its 
 fair inhabitant. But he was mistrusted by every 
 one, and, notwithstanding all his efforts, his en- 
 treaties to the servants, no one would let him in. 
 He took me to the Champs de Mars. 
 
 The house of Juani was very solitary; it was 
 built quite apart, between a yard and a not very 
 
yo PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 large but very shady garden. I went up to the 
 door and raised the knocker. First I saw at the 
 window, which was framed in creeping vines, the 
 maid of the Princess, daughter of a Prussian 
 captain, Francis Mecedes, and after her the 
 secretary of the Princess, whom I had seen at 
 Ragusa, Charnomski. 
 
 " From whom ? ' asked the latter timidly, 
 looking at me from behind the half-open door. 
 
 I hardly knew him again. Where was his 
 ajAomb — his foppery ? where had it disappeared ? 
 His clothes were half worn out, his hair was 
 uncurled, there was no rouge on his cheeks, 
 and he wore only the commonest and cheapest 
 of ear-rings ! 
 
 " From Count Orion ," answered I. 
 
 " Have you a letter ? 
 
 " Yes ; but let me in. 3 
 
 " Have you a letter ? ' ' repeated the secretary, 
 already taking an insolent and bragging tone. 
 
 " Yes, in the writing of the count himself," 
 answered I, handing him the letter. 
 
 Charnomski tore it out of my hands, glanced 
 at the German superscription, and, quite be- 
 wildered, slowly retreated, and disappeared. 
 After a few minutes the door was quickly opened, 
 and I was let in. 
 
 j) 
 
 55 
 
THE PRINCESS RECEIVES ME. 71 
 
 " Ah ! mille pardons ! " said Charnomski, bow- 
 ing* very low ; " now just fancy, I didn't know 
 you again in your uniform, you are so changed. 
 Welcome, thrice welcome, long-expected and 
 wished-for guest ! " 
 
 He turned and twisted and smirked so much 
 that I could not help at once pitying and laugh- 
 ing at him. 
 
 The Princess received me in a very small room, 
 the windows looking out on to the silent and 
 deserted garden. There were now no splendid 
 damask walls, no gilt furniture, no bronze — in 
 one word, not one of the luxuries which there 
 had been at Ragusa. She herself, the Grand- 
 duchess Elizabeth Tarakanova, Princess Wladim- 
 irskaya, Dame D'Azow — she who had captivated 
 the Shah of Persia and German princes — was now 
 lying ill on a leathern sofa, a blue velvet mantilla 
 thrown over her, and her feet encased in fur 
 slippers. The room was cold and damp. A log 
 of wood was flickering dimly in the fireplace, 
 shedding no warmth anywhere. I did not re- 
 cognise the Princess. Her thin and wan face, 
 with the hectic flush in each cheek, seemed more 
 lovely than ever. Her eyes smiled, but they 
 were not the same ; they reminded me of the 
 eyes of a beautiful wild fawn, mortally wounded, 
 
72 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 escaping the chase, but feeling that her end is 
 near. 
 
 "Ah ! you are come at last ! " said she timidly, 
 
 smiling. " You have brought the answer to my 
 
 letter from the count. ... I have read it. 
 
 Thank you. . . . What have you to 
 
 tell me? " 
 
 " The count is your most obedient servant," 
 answered I, repeating the words that had been 
 said to me. " He is quite at your service and at 
 your feet." 
 
 The Princess rose. Arransrinsf her beautiful 
 fair wavy hair, which she wore without j)owder, 
 she put out her hand with a timid, friendly 
 gesture. I ventured to raise it to my lips. 
 
 "Here all, excepting two persons, have deserted 
 me," said she ; but her strong convulsive cough 
 interrupted her. She put a handkerchief to her 
 lips, — " and then, added to that, I fell ill ; — but 
 all that's nonsense, — it's not worth speaking about. 
 But do you know now that I'm quite without any 
 means ? The Prince Radzivill, his friends, the 
 French people who helped me, have all deserted 
 me, have all hidden themselves, — and all that 
 happened so unexpectedly, — so quickly. 
 Hardly was peace signed with Turkey when my 
 complaisant Polish magnates one and all threw 
 
THE CHEQUE. 73 
 
 me off. Never mind ; I'll pay them out for that 
 some day. But now, ... I must tell you 
 openly," added she, smiling, U I am quite, yes, quite, 
 without money. I have not one single baioch 1 
 — I've nothing to pay the doctor, or to procure 
 provisions, with. My creditors give me no peace : 
 threaten me with the police. It's awful; I've 
 nothing left to live upon. 
 
 Having said this, the Princess began again 
 to cough most awfully, and fixed upon me her 
 supplicating, bewildered glance; — of her former 
 confidence not a trace remained. 
 
 " Your Highness," said I, fulfilling my in- 
 structions, "the count has sent you this small 
 sum. How much there is here I know not, 
 but the count offers it to you with all his 
 heart." 
 
 I handed to the Princess a small packet, 
 sealed with the count's crest, and containing a 
 cheque on a Roman banker, Jenkins. She read 
 the paper, passed her hands over her eyes, 
 looked me in the face, and again began coughing. 
 
 " Is it possible ?" she exclaimed, with a happy 
 smile, pressing the paper to her heart ; " it is true 
 then — it is not a hoax ? " 
 
 " Such exalted and important personages as 
 
 1 A small Italian coin. 
 
74 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 His Grace the Count Orloff never joke on such 
 subjects," answered I. 
 
 The Princess all of a sudden jumped up from 
 the sofa, clapped her hands like a child, and with 
 tears and smiles threw her arms round my neck, 
 screamed out something I could not make out, 
 and ran out of the room. 
 
 From there I could hear her scream, " Un- 
 limited credit ! 5 ' and then, all at once, I could 
 hear her hysterical sobs. The servants began 
 running to and fro ; Charnomski, pale and agi- 
 tated, came into the room. 
 
 " Her Highness is so grateful to you," said he, 
 pressing my hand with emotion. " You are the 
 first to help her, the first who has kept his word. 
 It is so rare now : the Princess had every reason 
 to hesitate ; she has been so often deceived. 
 Yes, my countrymen enticed her here, and then 
 deserted her. . . . The count invites her to 
 come to Bolosnia. Whether she will consent or 
 not, I do not know ; but we must hope that she 
 will decide to accept the invitation of the count. 
 She is fearless, enterprising, as brave as a 
 chevalier ; and to reach the aim so dear to her 
 heart, believe me, she will fear nothing." 
 
 " May I let the count know this ? " I asked. 
 
 " Wait a short time — in her position — and 
 
"UNLIMITED CREDIT!" 75 
 
 then, as you see, ill," answered Charnomski; 
 " pass again in two or three days, we will let 
 you know. En attendant, 1 keep all secret." 
 
 " But there are other Russians here," I an- 
 swered, "who see the Princess. They may injure 
 her. Who are they ? " 
 
 Charnomski flushed to the very roots of his 
 hair, looked embarrassed, gave me a side-long 
 glance, and answered that he knew nothing about 
 that. 
 
 I took my departure. Several days passed, 
 but still I knew nothing of the Princess. We 
 took it by turns, Christianok and I, to watch the 
 house from one of the neighbouring restaurants, 
 noticing who went in and out, and awaiting fur- 
 ther events. 
 
 For the first two or three days all in the house 
 was as quiet and solitary as usual. The doctor 
 came several times, then a woman dressed all in 
 black, covered with a long black veil, to all 
 appearance a nun. She always used to remain 
 a considerable time with the Princess. One 
 evening a servant of the house brought up to 
 
 1 Members of the higher society in Russia are accustomed 
 to interlard their conversation with foreign. — especially 
 French, — phrases. This is not astonishing when we con- 
 sider what splendid linguists they are. 
 
76 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 the perron a very handsome hired carriage ; a 
 woman wrapped in a bine velvet mantilla came 
 out with tottering steps, and took a seat in the 
 carriage. 
 
 " The Princess ! " said I, to Christianok. " We 
 must follow and find out where she goes." 
 
 We called a cab, 1 and folloAved her. The car- 
 riage, its blinds drawn down, rapidly passed 
 through several streets, bowled out into the 
 Cor so, and drew up at the door of the banker 
 Jenkins. All was clear now; the magical key, 
 the count's cheque, had opened the door to the 
 confiding and fearless beauty. 
 
 Another week passed, and still no news of the 
 Princess. I had caught cold, and was obliged 
 to keep indoors, but Christianok, who alone now 
 watched the house, told me with great indignation 
 that we had been made fools of, and nothing else ; 
 the Princess did not even think of going to 
 Bologna. She had, as the emissary learnt, paid 
 all her debts ; the creditors and the police, who 
 had threatened her with arrest, had been tran- 
 quillized, and had therefore left her at peace. 
 
 The house of Juani had wonderfully altered. 
 Before the perron all day and late at night stood 
 a whole crowd of carriages. The retinue of the 
 1 An anachronism of the author. 
 
THE PRINCESS IGNORES ME. 77 
 
 Princess had again increased ; she had taken the 
 two floors of the vast house of Juani, and had 
 ordered herself splendid toilettes. Again, as 
 before, she was to be seen constantly driving 
 out, visiting museums, galleries, paying and re- 
 ceiving visits : she kept open house. 
 
 At this very time Rome was especially lively; 
 the new Pope was to be chosen in place of the 
 late Clement XIV. In the evening the salons of 
 the Princess were filled with the most celebrated 
 painters, musicians, litterateurs, and high clergy. 
 The " Unknown " in the black dress had not 
 been seen for a long time. Once I had met her 
 at the door of the house of Juani. On seeing me, 
 she turned away impatiently, and, did I dream 
 it? — said something in Russian. I just caught 
 a glimpse of golden hair streaked with grey, and 
 the angry flash of splendid grey eyes. The 
 windows of the Princess were often open, and 
 through them were heard the strains of the harp,, 
 on which she played artistically. A whole crowd 
 of loiterers and beggars, always expecting her 
 generous gratuities, surrounded the house from 
 morning to niffht, and we could often hear them 
 noisily applauding the splendid cavalcades of the 
 Princess. I had quite recovered now, and could 
 see for myself the Princess, as before, heedless, 
 
78 PRINCESS TARARANOVA. 
 
 gay, now riding a spirited charger, flying like 
 the wind along the squares, in the streets, now 
 driving in an open carriage ; always merry, 
 always laughing. Involuntarily I felt glad for 
 her, poor young thing, having, through me, be- 
 cause of her sex, found help and support in her 
 dark days. One thing alone vexed me. Chris- 
 tianok, who had been given to me as an assistant, 
 began to hint at the possible want of candour of 
 the count towards me. Rome be^an to talk of 
 the lovely Princess, just as Venice had talked, and 
 even — though in the last days so bitter against 
 her — Ragusa. Christianok, somehow or other, 
 learnt that the banker Jenkins had paid her in 
 the name of the count 10,000 ducats. The re- 
 vived beauty spent the money she received with 
 a lavish hand, never thinking that some day it 
 would come to an end. I was once invited to 
 one of her soirees ; the Princess seemed a radiant 
 sun among surrounding stars. She played on the 
 harp with such feeling, that I was deeply moved. 
 Of her departure, however, she said nothing. 
 She merely remarked once, en passant, " Be 
 easy ; it will be all right." 
 
 At the end of a few days, on the advice of 
 Christianok, I wrote her a letter, reminding her 
 of the count. The answer was very long in 
 
T MEET THE PRINCESS. 79 
 
 coming. We were lost in conjectures. At last 
 I received a note from her, inviting me to meet 
 her in the Church of Santa Maria dell' Angela. 
 
 It was evening. I went silently into the dim 
 church, which was filled with the odour of in- 
 cense. Here and there flickered a taper before 
 the picture of some saint. A mysterious silence 
 seemed to fill the deserted obscurity of the 
 columns and prte-dieux. In the loneliest corner, 
 behind a high prie-dieu, with a prayer-book in 
 one hand, stood, wrapped in a very elegant man- 
 tilla, a tall slender figure, veiled — I recognised 
 the Princess. 
 
 " The wish for the welfare and happiness of 
 my fatherland, and future subjects," said she, 
 bending her head over her prayer-book, " is so 
 strong in me that I have decided to accept the 
 invitation of the count. Before, he frightened 
 me ; I did not believe him. Now I have full 
 confidence. You see, I have kept my word. To 
 all my friends I have said that I am bidding 
 adieu to the world ; that for the rest of my life 
 I am shutting myself up in a nunnery. — To you 
 I will say something else. . . ." 
 
 She lingered, as though gathering strength. 
 
 " To-morrow I take my departure," said she, 
 in a dignified voice ; " not for a convent, but 
 
8o PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 with you for the Count Orloff's. You will not 
 deceive me ; you will not betray me ? " 
 
 I silently bowed. What could I answer ? I, 
 the faithful subject of her Imperial Majesty. 
 The eyes of the Princess were filled with exul- 
 tation — with hopes. She knew no doubts, no 
 distrust. Before me stood a woman deeply con- 
 vinced. Pity for her involuntarily stole over me. 
 
 "And so till to-morrow, and then, en route. . ." 
 
 " Well, thank God, at last," thought I, " the 
 count will now be able to convince her; he'll 
 arrange matters for her." 
 
 She shook me warmly by the hand; seemed 
 as though she wished to add something, then 
 rapidly disappeared. I also directed my steps 
 to the church porch. As I approached the vessel 
 of holy water, a woman standing there stepped 
 forward and stood in front of me. I recognised 
 the person in black whom I had seen entering 
 the house of Juani. 
 
 " Konsov," said she, in an indignant whisper 
 in Russian, pushing me aside behind one of the 
 columns; "you — you are a traitor." 
 
 " How dare you say that ? Who are you ? ' 
 asked I. "If you are Russian, tell me your 
 name r 
 
 "My name's nothing to you. You are in a 
 
THE COUNT ALEXIS OR I. OFF. 
 
 //t a as neitht r revt noefifd, , 
 
 . Vor proud,, wicked, and deceitful,. 
 
 ffe was beloved fiy . I 
 To the. Empress true,. 
 
THE WOMAN IN BLACK. 81 
 
 conspiracy against her ; . . . yon have per- 
 suaded her to go ; . . . you have enticed her 
 into a trap " ; — whispered, with agitation, the 
 Unknown, gripping my hand. " Swear ! . 
 or you are a monster; just such a ruffian as 
 those who got others to ruin another innocent 
 — in Schlusselburg ! 
 
 I remembered my grandmother had told me 
 about the bloody drama of Merovitch. 
 
 " Fear nothing," said I ; " before you, you see 
 an honest officer. ... I am only fulfilling 
 my duty, and am convinced that only a better 
 future awaits the Princess." 
 
 The Unknown raised her hand, and silently 
 pointed to the image of the Virgin Mary. 
 
 " I can only repeat what I have already said," 
 I whispered. " The Princess is safe, and a more 
 happy fate awaits her." 
 
 She shook my hand, bowed, and silently left 
 the church. 
 
 I followed her as far as I could with my eyes, 
 trying to guess who she was, and why she took 
 so profound an interest in the Princess. 
 
 G 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE DEPARTURE FROM ROME, 
 
 It was the 12th of February. The day was very 
 cold and northern-like, but withal very bright. 
 The Princess, her suite and servants, took their 
 seats in several carriages. At the Church of San 
 Carlo she distributed rich alms to the poor, and 
 then, followed by a whole crowd of artists and 
 nobles, and amidst the cries and shouts of the 
 populace, who ran after her, waving hats and 
 caps, she left Rome. At the town gates, she 
 signed her name in the books as Countess Selinski. 
 She took the Florentine route. 
 
 I galloped in front, while Christianok followed 
 closely behind her. 
 
 On the 16th of February the Princess arrived 
 at Bologna. The count was not in town ; he was 
 awaiting her in his more retired palace of Pisa. 
 
 The noisy train and crowd of servants follow- 
 ing the Princess, and amounting to several dozens 
 of people, exceedingly astonished the count. How- 
 
 82 
 
ORLOFF AND THE PRINCESS. 83 
 
 ever, lie received his visitor very respectfully and 
 cordially, appointed her a splendid apartment, not 
 far from his own, surrounded her with every 
 comfort possible, and at all times conducted him- 
 self as a most faithful subject, never even, before 
 strangers, sitting down in her presence. Strange 
 things began to happen. What the count said 
 to the Princess, what negotiations passed between 
 them, no one of course knew. AYe could only 
 surmise — as we did very soon — that a most 
 hazardous game of love was being played. And, 
 indeed, the Princess soon afterwards removed 
 from her own apartment to that of the count, 
 while her retinue and servants remained where 
 they were. Christianok, ever since the arrival 
 of the Princess, constantly tried to put me in the 
 shade. He exalted his own services, as thouo*li 
 the whole success of the plot was due to him 
 alone. Of course my pride would only allow 
 me to look upon all this with contempt. The 
 count could see for himself that it was to my in- 
 fluence alone that he owed the arrival of the 
 Princess. 
 
 Rumours began to circulate that Alexis Gre- 
 gorevitch had made the Princess many presents ; 
 that among other things he had given her his 
 own miniature, i^nted on { Y orj and encircled 
 
84 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 with precious stones ; that for her he had, even 
 from the very first, deserted his much beloved 
 favourite, the lovely and amiable wife of the rich 
 Alexandre Lvovitch Davidoff, a born OrlofL 
 There remained no doubt. The enchantress had 
 won the heart of the count, our preux. The 
 lion had fallen in love with a gay butterfly. 
 Dazzled by her, the count no longer made a 
 secret of his passion. He was to be seen openly 
 with her everywhere — on the promenade, at the 
 opera, or at church : it was all the same. One 
 day the Princess did me the honour to call me. 
 She be^an asking: me about this and about that 
 and assured me several times that she had more 
 confidence in me than in any one else. The 
 count also was always most amiable. Christianok, 
 seeing me ao'ain in favour, had recourse to a little 
 ruse. The cunning Greek began to complain 
 that the Princess had been very sparing in her 
 attentions to him at Rome, and that he could not 
 forget it ; she therefore, with the permission of 
 the count, gave him a colonel's brevet. I was 
 passed by. I bore this injustice without a mur- 
 mur, relying on the confidence reposed in me by 
 the count and the Princess, of which I was soon 
 to have proofs. 
 
 " Well Konsov ! " said the count to me one 
 
ORLOFF AND THE PRINCESS. 85 
 
 day, " honour and glory to you, who have known 
 so well how to procure me the opportunity of 
 making myself agreeable to such a person. We 
 must prepare for her, in the future, a quiet and 
 comfortable life. Is she not, truly, a lovely 
 creature ? What a lively and charming character ! 
 I must say, candidly, I'm almost ready to marry 
 her myself, and have done with my bachelor 
 life . 
 
 "Well and why not, your Grace?" answered 
 I. " What should there be to prevent it ? ' 
 
 " She won't consent, old fellow ; she says, ' I'll 
 consent only when I'm in my proper place.' 
 
 " How so ? Excuse me, I don't understand. 
 What proper place ? " 
 
 " Oh ! well, cannot you understand ? . 
 When she will be in Russia, at home, — well, 
 when the empress will condescend to recognise 
 her rights." 
 
 "But is there any hope of that ? " 
 
 Orloif became thoughtful. 
 
 " Well, I think," said he, " that it might be 
 possible ; I hope her friends will not spoil every- 
 thing. They follow her so closely here, all those 
 Poles, those Jesuits of all kinds. Who knows ? 
 They may poison us. They may shoot us ; or 
 give us a stab at the corner of the street with 
 
86 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 a hired Kwjal. 1 All they desire is a person for 
 their disturbances." 
 
 The count seemed very much agitated. His 
 frank, open and intelligent countenance seemed 
 troubled. The passion of his heart, working as 
 it were against his will, could be heard in his 
 trembling voice, in each of his words. 
 
 The day ended. The count did not leave his 
 visitor for a minute. 
 
 " Here's bad luck ! she won't listen. Really I 
 don't know what to do," said he, one day, having 
 summoned me. "If I could find some one to 
 help me, . . . some one who could persuade 
 her. 
 
 " Persuade her to what ? " I asked. 
 
 "To a private marriage, and then flight. . . ." 
 
 "But with whom ? " 
 
 "With me! . . ." 
 
 " What ! your Grace ! but where to ? ' 
 
 " To the end of the world, if need be. 
 Ah, yes, while I think of it, persuade her not to 
 carry pistolets on her person ; the other day, in 
 a passion, she nearly killed her own maid, Fran- 
 
 L/C/Sca. ... 
 
 Having uttered this confession, this athletic, 
 this splendid Apollo-like count, stood before 
 
 1 An Asiatic dagger. 
 
MARRIAGE PROPOSED. 87 
 
 me as flushed as a schoolgirl, and his eyes were 
 cast down, just as if he were some love-sick youth 
 awaiting his sentence. 
 
 What answer could I make him? In my 
 agitation I Avas silent ; but then, as always, I 
 decided to remain his most devoted and obedient 
 servant. After all, what was it ? A marriage. 
 There was nothing bad in that. In marrying her 
 the count was only obeying the dictates of his 
 heart, and while gaining in position b} r allying 
 himself with Imperial blood, he was transforming 
 the " Adventuress ' into the modest Countess 
 Orloff. 
 
 ^» ■>!» v ( r ?k "Sjc 
 
 Here I must interrupt my narrative, and re- 
 turn to the present— to our poor frigate. My 
 God ! how awful ! Tempest-tost, the Nortliern 
 Eagle for five whole days was borne no one 
 knew whither. All the reckonings, all the 
 fathomings were being done in vain. To-day, at 
 dawn, Ave passed Spain, not far from the African 
 coast and near some AA^ild stony islands. We 
 made signals, but in the foo* no one could see us. 
 In the daytime, having finished my watch, I 
 remained on deck. A most unbearable, sultry 
 coast-Avind, a boundless expanse of water, splash- 
 ing betAveen the rocks, a ship without mast or 
 
88 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 compass, universal despair, and not the least hope 
 of beings saved : that is all we have before our 
 eyes. The first reef, and we are lost. Irena, 
 oh ! far-off charming traitress ! oh ! could you 
 but see all the torments endured by the poor 
 rejected exile ! Night, again a calm. I'm once 
 more in my cabin. All-powerful God, give me 
 only the strength to live through this night and 
 finish writing my tale. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE PRINCESS SEEKS MY ADVICE. 
 
 The exhausted commander sleeps soundly. Only 
 the sentinels and I are on watch. I shall begin 
 now to relate the saddest experience of all my 
 life. This experience is the principal excuse for 
 my writing this confession. May she who caused 
 me to wander, an exile in a foreign land, remember 
 that she was the involuntary participator in that 
 action which will remain a source of regret and 
 reproach to the end of my life. 
 
 It was at Bologna, to which place the count 
 had removed. 
 
 The Princess had desired to see me. She kindly 
 invited me to be seated, and took a chair herself. 
 I noticed again those two hectic spots on her 
 cheeks, that her eyes were literally glowing, and 
 that she seemed quite beside herself. 
 
 " Lieutenant, I sent for you to confide in you 
 a secret," she said, throwing an anxious glance 
 around. 
 
 89 
 
9° PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " I am all attention, your Highness, and you 
 may trust me," I answered. 
 
 " The count starts to-morrow for Livorno. 
 Did you know it ? " 
 
 " Yes," I answered. 
 
 " You see, there has been a quarrel there, and 
 a fight between some English and Russian sailors, 
 and the count wishes to invite his friend, the Eng- 
 lish consul, a Mr. Dickson, to settle the matter." 
 
 "Well! what about that?" I said. "That's 
 nothing important ; it will soon be arranged, and 
 the count will return." 
 
 "He has asked me to go with him. 
 What if I refuse ? If I don't accompany him ? 
 What do you think ? He'll not desert me, as all 
 the others have done, and disappear for ever ? ' 
 
 " Oh ! but why not go ? " answered I, following 
 the idea of the count. " It's a simple promenade. 
 Why not accompany the count ? The weather 
 is splendid. It could only be a pleasure trip for 
 you both." 
 
 " Yes," she answered thoughtfully, " I should 
 very much like to see the town and your fleet ; 
 the count praises his sailors so highly." 
 
 "Well, and what is there to prevent your 
 going ? ' I said thoughtfully. " Yes," I said to 
 myself, " it would seem that the count is very 
 
 
"WILL HE NOT DECEIVE MET' 91 
 
 persistent. He won't leave her alone for a single 
 instant." 
 
 " All ! yes ! I was forgetting," said the Prin- 
 cess, as though collecting her thoughts. 
 
 Looking at her, I could see that her eyes were 
 full of tears, her lips trembling, and that, though 
 looking at me, she seemed not to see me. 
 
 " Listen ! ' she said reluctantly. " You're an 
 honest man. . . . The count has made me an 
 offer of marriage — has proposed to me. What 
 do you think of it ? " 
 
 I rose respectfully. 
 
 " Allow me to congratulate you from the bottom 
 of my heart," I said earnestly, bowing. "Your 
 merit has triumphed over everything. But there 
 is nothing wonderful in that." 
 
 "But will he not deceive me? Will he not 
 betray me ? ' whispered the Princess, again 
 glancing around. 
 
 Her very lips were blanched; she was quite 
 beside herself. 
 
 " Tell me the whole truth, I implore you ! You 
 see, following his advice, I carry no arms upon 
 me; it offends him. . . ." 
 
 It flashed through my mind that just during 
 this very journey the count might persuade her 
 to marry him. 
 
92 PRINCESS TAR AKA NOVA. 
 
 " But, your Highness," said I, and those fatal 
 words burn now in my brain like letters of fire, 
 " what do you fear ? The count is madly in love 
 with you, that I know surely. He sleeps but to 
 see you in his dreams ; even, he wanted to fly 
 away with you." 
 
 " Then it is the truth ? Swear by the memory 
 of your mother, of your father," said she, squeez- 
 ing my hand with all her might. 
 
 " In the name of God, it is true ! I heard it 
 from his own lips. He honoured me with his 
 confidence. Besides, what am I in his eyes ? 
 Nothing ; the meanest servant, the merest cipher, 
 . . . and yet he told even me openly. . 
 
 The Princess fixed her eyes on the image of 
 the Saviour crowned with thorns hung up in the 
 corner of the room, and she remained motionless 
 for several minutes, as though breathing a silent 
 and fervent prayer. 
 
 " The brave alone live ! ' said she, rising and 
 drawing herself up to her full height. " Once 
 his wife, he cannot betray me. ... I shall 
 go. . . . But, remember, I'll not give up 
 either liberty or heart without a struggle. . . . 
 What is to happen will happen soon. . . 
 
 I again heartily congratulated the Princess. 
 
 " Ah ! another thing, Konsov," she said, stop- 
 
 
"THE BRAVE ALONE LIVE!" 93 
 
 ping me. " Tell me truly, in all conscience, as 
 before God, is it this same Orloff who helped your 
 empress to obtain the throne ? " 
 
 " The very same." 
 
 " How brave ! how gallant ! what a hero ! ' 
 said the Princess, with animation. " Fearless 
 Cid ! Bayard ! A spark of God's Spirit gives 
 such men their bravery and their fearlessness." 
 
 I went away full of joy at the successful issue 
 of our plan. Still I had certain misgivings. 
 " Does the Princess know of his other feat ? 
 Why did I not tell her of that other dark, un- 
 pardonable sin ? " I was only faithful to my 
 duty, obeyed the orders of my superior, but could 
 not help pitying the woman. 
 
 Heavy doubts overwhelmed me, and all night 
 I could not shut my eyes. " Duty is duty, but, 
 if — ? Should I go to-morrow morning," whis- 
 pered my conscience, " and warn her ? There's 
 time ; let her think well, weigh everything, and 
 then decide." 
 
 When dawn broke, I got up, dressed, and 
 hastened to the house of the count. Before 
 the house quite a crowd of people had collected. 
 Carriages were driving to and fro. I made my 
 way through the throng. The count and Prin- 
 cess had already taken their seats in a carriage. 
 
94 PRIECESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Christianok was seated in another. Some of the 
 servants occupied a third. 
 
 " Make haste, Konsov ! Take your place. We 
 were only waiting for you ! ' Unconsciously al- 
 most I took my place by Christianok. 
 
 The train started. After the heavy rain, the 
 morning had emerged into a beautiful calm. 
 
 " What do you see in all this ? ' Christianok 
 asked me, when we had fairly started. 
 
 "In what?" 
 
 " Well, in this little voyage ? " 
 
 " I really do not know, and dare not guess," I 
 answered. 
 
 " Well, to-morrow there will be a bridal couple," 
 he said, and smiled. " They'll be married." 
 
 " But where's the church ? " 
 
 "What is the Fleet church for? They'll 
 get on the Admiralty ship, and there be spliced 
 in a trice. But of course it was only for that she 
 consented to go. 
 
 " Then it is true ? " 
 
 " Well ! don't you see it yourself ? The count 
 seems to be on wings ; it seemed too s^ood to be 
 true. So, you see, the fairy tale will soon become 
 a true event." 
 
 At Livorno, the Count Orloff was met by the 
 commander of our squadron, Admiral Samuel 
 
THE "LITTLE VOYAGE." 95 
 
 Carlovitcli Greig. Afterwards the count and 
 Princess paid him a visit, and then called on the 
 English consul, drove out with him, his wife, and 
 a whole circle of visitors into the country, and 
 then went for a sail in boats with music ; every- 
 where they were followed by a curious mob. In 
 the evening of the second day of their arrival 
 at Livorna, the count and the Princess went to 
 the opera. On their return, I noticed in the 
 vestibule of the splendid marble palace assigned 
 to the count another intriguing Greek also 
 serving in our fleet, Joseph Michaelevitch Pibas, 
 or, as he called himself, De Pibas. He also some- 
 what resembled Christianok, being as black as a 
 beetle ; but being taller and not so nimble, we 
 used to call the pair of them the Beetle and 
 Cockchafer. De Pibas, as I afterwards learnt, 
 had been engaged even sooner than I or Chris- 
 tianok, having been sent to Venice to collect 
 information about the Princess. 
 
 " Good-bye, priest," said the count to Pibas, 
 laughing and not noticing me. "Mind, don't 
 forget the vestments." 
 
 " Vestments, . . . and why priest ? " I 
 stood under the marble colonnade bewildered, 
 lost in thought, hardly seeing .the lovely bine 
 boundless sea and our squadron. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE u MARRIAGE." 
 
 The 22nd of February was lovely, almost like 
 summer in its warmth, not a cloud in the skies, 
 the sea calm as a mirror, a holiday feeling' in 
 the air. The English consul had invited the 
 count and Princess, and all their suite to 
 luncheon. The Princess arrived, splendidly and 
 tastefully dressed, and, as always, gay and lively. 
 Where was her illness ? She chatted merrily 
 with the other guests. On the terrace, adorned 
 with flowers, she walked, carelessly laughing and 
 joking. Every one showed her the greatest 
 attention and respect. 
 
 Count Alexis Gregorevitch was a model 
 cavalier -servant of the Princess, holding her 
 fan and her gloves, and taking from the hands 
 of the servants the cool refreshing drinks, to 
 offer them himself to her. All noticed that his 
 amorous glances followed her everywhere, and 
 that she seemed born to new life. As by magic 
 
 90 
 
"A MODEL CAVALIER-SERVANT? 97 
 
 her languor had disappeared ; her preux chevalier, 
 the tamed lion, was at her feet. 
 
 " Ha! our Celadon, what think yon of him?" 
 whispered Christianok. " Yes, resting on his 
 laurels of Chesma, the hero does not disdain 
 another conquest ! " 
 
 Admiral Greig, by nature of a very taciturn 
 disposition, took no part in the conversation, but 
 sat a little apart, extremely stern, sad of com>- 
 tenance, and with downcast eyes, seeming to 
 notice no thin sr. 
 
 Some one walked up to the window. From 
 there you could see the blue sea and the Russian 
 flotilla. The ladies began talking of pleasant 
 sails on the sea. 
 
 " Well, count ! show ns your ships," said the 
 Princess. " In Civita Vecchia you showed them 
 the mock-fight of Chesma; you gave others 
 pleasure, honour us also." 
 
 "All is ready," answered Orloff, bowing re- 
 spectfully. 
 
 The whole party went down to the sea-shore. 
 Count Alexis Gregorevitch was specially respect- 
 ful to the Princess. He himself placed her shawl 
 on her shoulders, and taking her parasol from 
 the hands of her maid, opened it, and, walking by 
 her side, shielded her from the sun, all the while 
 
 H 
 
98 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 whispering in lier ears the most passionate pro- 
 testations of love. 
 
 The whole crowd of spectators collected on 
 the sea-shore looked admiringly at his general's 
 uniform of dark green with red facings, all 
 covered with o^old embroidery, which adorned 
 his splendid figure, and on all sides we could 
 hear cries of " Vivat" mixed with whispers of 
 * ; Oh ! what a couple ! " 
 
 They all took their places in the boats and 
 barges standing ready by the sea- shore. The 
 Princess seated herself in a splendid gilded 
 barge, ornamented and arranged with imperial 
 luxury. The wives of Admiral Greig and of the 
 English consul took their places by her side. 
 The count went with the Admiral, and I with 
 the retinue of the Princess. The barge floated 
 in the direction of the Russian flotilla. We were 
 received by the squadron with the greatest pomp. 
 Flags waved everywhere. The officers in their 
 brightest uniforms stood at their posts ; the 
 sailors at the masts. From all the ships floated 
 the most delicious music. The waves gently 
 rocked us. The receding shore was covered with 
 spectators. 
 
 As we touched the admiral's ship, the Three 
 Hierarchs, a splendid gilt arm-chair was let 
 
THE FESTIVITIES. 99 
 
 down, in which first of all the Princess was 
 pnlled up, and then the other ladies. We 
 mounted the trap. The ladies had hardly 
 stepped on deck, when from all sides came cries 
 of " Hurrah ! " and cannon were fired. The sight 
 was splendid. The spectators in the streets and 
 on shore merrily Avaved their hats and handker- 
 chiefs. All were in high expectation that Orion 
 would conduct the manoeuvres, and, to make the 
 illusion more complete, would burn some old 
 useless ship. A great many glasses were pointed 
 at us from the shore. Dozens of little boats, 
 filled with onlookers, started from the shore in 
 the direction of our ship. On board the Three 
 Hierarchy there seemed to be great commotion. 
 The whole staff of the admiral's servants were 
 running to and fro, with trays loaded with wine, 
 bon-bons, and fruit. There was dancing in the 
 saloon. The younger gentlemen and ladies were 
 dancing with all their heart the contre- clause and 
 cotillon. The wives of the admiral and consul 
 surrounded the Princess with little attentions. 
 
 The ladies were soon invited into a special 
 cabin, where presently they were joined by the 
 count and the admiral, who were busily talking 
 together. The latter seemed quite out of sorts, 
 and very gloomy. 
 
ioo PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " They are going to marry the count and the 
 Princess," I heard one of the officers whisper to 
 another. 
 
 I was dumbfounded. 
 
 " But why here ? " asked the one to whom the 
 question was addressed. " Why all this mystery, 
 all this haste P " 
 
 " There's no Russian church here. The admiral 
 has lent his, and that accounts for the Princess's 
 arrival at Livorno, and her presence on board." 
 
 After a little while the decks beo;an to be 
 deserted, and many of the suite, getting into 
 the barges, were rowed back to land, amongst 
 others, the two cunning and clever Greeks, Ribas 
 and Christianok. 
 
 On seeing them, I do not know why, there 
 flashed through my mind the words of the count 
 to Ribas, — "Priest and vestments." In the mean- 
 time there were no clergy to be seen on board. 
 The deck was becoming more and more deserted. 
 The officers were walking backwards and for- 
 wards, gaily chatting and pointing their glasses 
 at the occupants of the boats. The band played 
 a very gay march, and then an aria from a well- 
 known opera. 
 
 What took place below all this while has re- 
 mained a mystery. Several asserted afterwards 
 
THE "MARRIAGE:" 101 
 
 that nothing particular had occurred, but that 
 at table the betrothal of the count and Princess 
 had been solemnly announced, and that all had 
 drunk the health of the bridal couple. Others 
 on oath protested that in another cabin there 
 had been a mock marriage between the count 
 and Princess, so that OrlorT, in her eyes at least, 
 might seem to be keeping his word, and that 
 in this sacrilegious ceremony the rule of Priest 
 and Deacon had been played by Christianok 
 and Ribas, who were dressed up in the vest- 
 ments of the clergy of the fleet, the first act- 
 ing the part of deacon, and the second that, of 
 priest. 
 
 But I am running on too fast ; let us return to 
 the deck of the Three Hierarchs. 
 
 My strength fails me ; my heart bursts ; the 
 pen falls from my fingers when I recollect all 
 that I was so soon to see. 
 
 Wherever I shall be, — if I remain, by a miracle 
 of God, alive, or if I am destined to perish in the 
 waves, — the remembrance of all that I then saw 
 will only be effaced from my mind with my last 
 dying groan. 
 
 The deck was full of life. All had left the 
 cabins, and were now sitting in detached groups ; 
 there was laughing and talking on all sides ; 
 
102 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 servants were running to and fro, with cooling 
 
 CD ' O 
 
 drinks and wine. 
 
 The Princess was leaning over the side of the 
 vessel. The wind was rising" ; it was getting 
 cool. She called me to her side with a friendly 
 nod. I helped her to put on her mantilla. 
 
 " If I live a hundred years I shall not forget 
 this," she whispered, with a happy smile, shaking 
 me warmly by the hand. " You have kept your 
 word. All is being fulfilled. I shall soon be in 
 Russia, and once there — why not hope ? They 
 will proclaim the future Empress Elizabeth II. 
 Oh ! now is the time for wonders. The 
 present empress, what was she a little Avhile 
 ago r 
 
 Those words filled me with astonishment. I 
 was silent, bewildered by the wild fantasies of 
 this poor blinded creature. 
 
 On board the Three Hierarchs they hoisted a 
 signal flag. Again the roar of the cannon was 
 heard, mingled with the cries of " Hurrah !' The 
 bands on all the ships again began playing ; the 
 flotilla Avas beginning its manoeuvres. Enchanted 
 by all this attention on the part of her future 
 subjects, the Princess, still leaning against the 
 side of the ship, seemed plunged in agreeable 
 thought, as her eyes followed the curling smoke 
 
THE PRINCESS GRATEFUL. 103 
 
 from the shots and the movements of the different 
 ships. 
 
 I see her now, as she then stood, in her bine 
 velvet mantilla, a small black straw hat, and a 
 white parasol in her hands. 
 
 I also was lost in thought. Yes, all is finished 
 now ! The count has found a companion for 
 life. He will know how to persuade her. To- 
 gether they will fly to the feet of a merciful 
 empress. 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 TREACHERY. 
 
 " Youe swords, gentlemen ! " resounded a most 
 loud and commanding voice near me. 
 
 I glanced round. Captain Litvenoff addressed 
 himself by turn to all the adjutants and others 
 in the count's retinue, demanding their swords. 
 The deck was covered with armed sailors. Ad- 
 miral Greig, his wife, and the consul were no- 
 where to be seen. Quite bewildered, I surrendered 
 my sword, as did all the others. The Princess, 
 hearing the clatter of arms and loud words, 
 turned rapidly round. She was as pale as death; 
 she had taken in the situation at a glance. 
 
 " What does all this mean ? " she asked in 
 French. 
 
 " In the name of the empress, you are ar- 
 rested," answered the captain. 
 
 " Violence ! force ! " screamed the Princess. 
 " Help, — here,— to me ! " 
 
 She rushed to the trap, forcing her way with 
 her feeble hands through the ranks of armed 
 
 o 
 104 
 
THE ARREST. 105 
 
 men. The sailors, sunburnt and sullen, looked 
 at her in astonishment. Litvenoff stopped her. 
 
 " Impossible ! " said he. " Be calm." 
 
 " Perfidy ! Malediction ! " madly cried she. 
 " How dare you — with a woman — with a Russian 
 Princess. Do you hear? Let me pass," she 
 cried to the soldiers in French. " Where is Count 
 Orloff ? Call him here. Brins* him here. You 
 shall answer for all this ! " 
 
 " The count, by order of the empress and 
 admiral, is also arrested," answered Litvenoff, 
 respectfully bowing. " He is arrested just as you 
 are ! " 
 
 The Princess gave a loud scream, and drew 
 back. 
 
 Her reproachful glance fell upon me. It seemed 
 to pierce my heart like a dagger, as though say- 
 ing, " It is your fault. You have ruined me." 
 
 She staggered back a few steps, and then 
 fainted away. 
 
 The sailors carried her into the cabin. All 
 
 the servants, except her maid, who remained with 
 
 her, had been arrested, and under a strong escort 
 
 had been transferred to another ship. 
 
 ***** 
 
 Shattered in my innermost soul by all that 
 I had seen, I recovered my senses to find myself 
 
jo6 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 in a small dim cabin. Lifting np my head, I saw 
 that I was shut in with that dastard Christianok, 
 the principal author of our misery, the perpe- 
 trator of the treachery. I cannot say what 
 astonishment I showed. My comrade, at all 
 events, was very calm. He was lounging, and 
 eating some bon-bons he had snatched up from 
 the table, and glancing from time to time at our 
 closed door. 
 
 " You're astonished ? " he asked me. " Is it 
 not true ? What wonderful things ! Yes ? ' 
 
 " Yes, there's enough to be astonished at ! ' I 
 answered, concealing my disgust with difficulty. 
 
 " It was impossible otherwise," said he. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because only the bait of marriage could 
 tempt this adventuress." 
 
 " Yes ! but why play with her feelings, with 
 her heart ? " said I, impatiently. 
 
 "We should never have got her on board 
 otherwise." 
 
 " There were many other ways. I know my- 
 self that the count promised her on his oath to 
 marry her, and that once his wife, she would 
 have trusted herself with our fleet." 
 
 " Ah ! my dear Konsov, what simplicity ! ' 
 chuckled the cunning knave. " Is it possible you 
 
CHRISTIANOK'S HEARTLESSNESS. 107 
 
 Lave not yet guessed ? Why, at the very moment 
 when the count was playing with the Princess 
 at the most tender protestations of love, I was 
 writing under his dictation, and in his name, a 
 letter to the empress, telling her that he had 
 decided to do everything to catch the adventuress, 
 and even, if need be, to tie a stone to her neck, 
 and throw her into the river." 
 
 " And why didn't you straightway drown 
 her ? ' I cried out, scarcely knowing what I said. 
 " It would have been far more merciful than 
 to deceive the poor unfortunate, consumptive 
 creature. 
 
 " She'll live long enough, yet," said Chris- 
 tianok. " The orders were to catch her quietly, 
 cleverly, without any noise. That's just what we 
 have done." 
 
 I heard these cold hard words with the greatest 
 indignation. I was almost beside myself at the 
 heartlessness of the wily Greek. 
 
 " No ! enough, old man. Calm your knightly 
 feelings ; that's all bosh. In our time, remember, 
 the most important thing is courage, and im- 
 pudence itself must be clever and sharp. Success 
 means might and riches ; non-success, poverty, 
 or what is worse, Siberia. No, you had better 
 get up. Don't you see that it's time ? . . ." 
 
io8 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Raising my head, I saw that our door was 
 open, and through it I could see the whole crew, 
 walking to and fro, and talking gaily. The 
 Greek and I were taken into the ward-room. 
 There on the table stood a whole battery of wine 
 bottles. The room was filled with the fumes of 
 tobacco and punch. We were forced to drink, 
 and then sent on shore. There I learnt that 
 the count had all this time been with the ad- 
 miral at the consul's, discussing their future 
 movements. 
 
 In the evening: the streets of Livorno were 
 filled with turbulent and indignant crowds. The 
 Russians shut themselves up in their houses. 
 Involuntarily I grasped my hat and cloak, and 
 taking the most deserted streets, proceeded to 
 the sea-shore. 
 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 REMORSE. 
 
 I fell down on tlie shore. Oh ! my Gk>d ! what 
 anguish ! Tears blinded me. Sobs stifled me. 
 I hated, I cursed the whole world. "How," 
 thought I, " could such a dastardly, godless deed 
 be perpetrated, and I all the while a partaker in 
 the crime ? ' My whole frame shook with in- 
 dignation, with madness, as with horror I turned 
 over in my mind every little detail ; thought over 
 all the disgusting and dastardly meanness, the 
 fiendish calculation, the treachery of him to 
 whom I had been so faithful and so devoted, and 
 who had not scrupled to sport witli that most 
 sacred feeling — love. I could fancy to myself 
 at that very minute that poor deserted woman, 
 half killed with misery. I could picture her in 
 my mind sitting in her dark prison, her soul torn 
 with anguish; who knows, perhaps chained and 
 watched over by coarse, brutal soldiers. " And 
 when did all that take place ? " I repeated to 
 myself. " When all seemed so smiling, when all 
 
 109 
 
no PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 her golden dreams seemed ready to be fulfilled.' 3 
 The obscure daughter of the late empress had 
 seen at her feet the highest dignitary of the new 
 empress. The whole fleet had met her with 
 cries of joy, with roars of cannon. What must 
 she have felt ? what must she have experienced ? 
 From under the rock where I was lying I could 
 see the lovely sunset, gilding with its last rays 
 the top of the hills, the crosses on the town 
 churches, and, fading almost entirely, the out- 
 lines of the ships at sea. " Oh ! infamy ! in- 
 famy ! " I whispered. " Count Orloif has sullied 
 his soul with an action still darker than all the 
 rest. No laurels, not even the laurels of Chesma, 
 will now be able to shield him from the justice 
 of God or man. And also, according to our 
 services, shall justice be meted out to us — his 
 accomplices in that dark deed." 
 
 My despair was so strong that I was ready to 
 have done with life. 
 
 " No ; repent all thy life, repent," seemed to 
 whisper an inner voice. " Search for means to 
 redeem thy dark crime." 
 
 A gun was fired from the flag-ship, and on all 
 the other ships nearer were heard the strains of 
 the vesper music, and then the prayers rose on 
 the still air. The sable veil of nio-ht descended 
 
THE COUNTS EXPLANATION. m 
 
 on the sea; on the guard-ship, and along the 
 shore, the watch-fires began to he lighted. I 
 rose, and, hardly able to drag my feet along, 
 crawled home. There I found the orderly of the 
 count waiting for me. I followed him. 
 
 " Well ! Konsov ! now confess you were a little 
 astonished," said the count coming to meet me. 
 
 My tongue clove to the roof of my mouth. 
 Well, what could I have said in answer to him ? 
 He, gifted with all the blessings of life ; this preux 
 chevalier; this dignitary, brave, bold, daring, 
 courageous, loaded with honours, a short time ago 
 my idol, was now to me loathsome, unbearable. 
 
 "Do you think that I don't remember? that I 
 have forgotten ? " he continued, avoiding looking 
 me straight in the face. " Oh ! I know well that 
 for the most important part I am indebted to you. 
 Had it not been her faith in you, and 
 in your interest, it would not have been so easy 
 to cage the bird. . . ." 
 
 The words of the count literally stung me. I 
 stood confused, bewildered. 
 
 " But, perhaps you do not know, you have not 
 heard," as if to console me, said the count — " do 
 not take on so — we had received from Petersburg: 
 the most formal and detailed instructions concern- 
 ing this usurper, this person who had taken to 
 
H2 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 herself a name and lineage not belong^ nsf to her. 
 The. order was to arrest her at any cost, and 
 bring her there. Well, now have yon under- 
 stood ? " 
 
 In my confusion and trouble I could make no 
 answer. 
 
 " The Pretender is now in our hands. The will 
 of our Sovereign has been fulfilled, and the 
 prisoner will soon sail for the north. There'll 
 be enough inquiries set on foot ; they'll dig 
 down to the very roots. . . . All that's not 
 the work of foreigners alone. I think there'll be 
 mixed up in this not a few of our own travellers. 
 In the papers of that liar there are not a few 
 well-known signatures. 
 
 " Yes, you're rejoicing ; there'll be again new 
 arrests, again inquiries," thought I. " And your- 
 self, what did you do, stony-hearted man ? ' 
 
 " Why don't you say something ? ' asked the 
 count. 
 
 " The whole town is in agitation ; there are 
 mobs, screams, threats. Have a care, count," I 
 added, unable to conceal my disgust; "this is not 
 Russia. . . . You might get a stab when 
 least expecting it." 
 
 "Ah, well, my fine fellow," said he frowning, 
 " whoever touches you or any other of ours, or 
 
THE COUNTS EXPLANATION. 113 
 
 even threatens, just point to the sea. 
 Seven hundred cannon, all sweeping the whole 
 shore. I've only to raise my hand, and the whole 
 town will be level and clear. There, go now, 
 and tell every one that, and add that I fear no 
 one. . . ." 
 
 " Braggart ! ' thought I to myself, shivering 
 with ra^e. 
 
 I left the count without opening my mouth, 
 and without even a bow. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE BOTTLE CAST INTO THE SEA. 
 
 Several wretched, unbearable days passed. 
 Livorno really rose, and began to threaten us 
 with an open attack. The indignant populace by 
 night and by day surrounded the palace of the 
 count, and from time to time threw stones at the 
 building. The count was protected by a body- 
 guard of sailors. Boats filled with ladies and 
 gentlemen were constantly sailing between the 
 ships to try and catch a glimpse of the unfortu- 
 nate prisoner. I was sent on board the Three 
 Hierarchs with a letter and parcel of books which 
 had been confided to me by the count, as I learnt 
 afterwards, for the Princess. As I was returning 
 to the shore I heard a cry, and turning round, 
 was petrified. At the open window of the Three 
 Hierarchs I could see, pressed to the iron grating,, 
 a pale countenance and a hand waving a hand- 
 kerchief. I also answered by waving my hand. 
 "Was it noticed or not from the ship, behind the 
 high waves ? I never knew. The sailors plied 
 
THE RUSSIAN STRANGER. 115 
 
 their oars sturdily; there was a strong breeze, 
 and the boat flew on the dancing waves. 
 
 7j7 "7$ 7& 7f? *fc 
 
 Rumours began to circulate that the fleet 
 would, soon set sail. "Where for was not yet 
 known. 
 
 I got ready to go out and learn, if possible, if 
 I was to remain on the Count's staff. I was just 
 taking up my hat, when some one entered the 
 room. I turned round. At the door stood a 
 dark figure. On looking at her, I recognised the 
 Russian stranger of the Church Santa Maria. 
 
 Her travel-stained dress showed she had just 
 come a long journey. 
 
 " You recognise me," said she, throwing back 
 her veil, and I could see that her golden, wavy 
 hair had become grey. 
 
 " What do you want ? ' I asked her. 
 
 " That's how you answered for her. Those 
 are your promises," said she, advancing a step 
 towards me. " Where are your assurances, your 
 word of honour as'a true man ? " 
 
 " Listen to me. ... I am innocent," I began. 
 
 " Dastards ! ruffians ! ' ' she screamed. " They've 
 laid a trap, they've enticed her, they've ruined 
 the poor unfortunate, and then, think you, they 
 will all go scot free? You are easy now, you 
 
1 1 6 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 think. You mistake. The hour of retribution is 
 near ; it will come — it will come — " 
 
 She advanced on me so menacingly, that I 
 retreated to the open window. We were on the 
 second storey, and the window looked out on the 
 garden. I was very glad that at this minute the 
 garden was quite deserted. The noise could 
 have attracted eaves-droppers, who might have 
 insulted the stranger, whose visit I could in no 
 way understand, and who, as it seemed to me, 
 was quite incapable of being convinced. 
 
 " You're innocent ? " she asked. " Innocent ? ' 
 
 "Yes. I acted honestly. You will see. I'll 
 show you; I'll prove it to you. 
 
 " Answer me. — You advised the Princess to 
 come here. — You persuaded her ! " 
 
 " I persuaded her." 
 
 " You convinced her of the possibility of a 
 marriage with Orloff. No prevarication. You 
 hear ; give me a straight answer," repeated this 
 woman, trembling with emotion. 
 
 " The count himself assured me, on his word 
 of honour, that he meant marriage." 
 
 " Perfidious betrayer ! Death to you ! ' cried 
 the stranger, throwing her hands wildly about. 
 
 I had no time to step back. A bullet whizzed 
 by me. I was blinded by the smoke. I caught 
 
/ AM SHOT AT. 117 
 
 the mad woman by the wrist. She began strug- 
 gling with all her might, her face distorted with 
 passion, and once more fired at me, luckily with 
 no more success than at the first time. Wresting 
 the pistol from her hands, I threw it in the 
 garden. The noise had attracted the servants. 
 I heard knocks at the door. I flew to open it, 
 and trying to appear as calm as possible, I 
 assured them that having unloaded my pistol at 
 the window, it had gone off, but that nothing had 
 happened. They all left me and went away, 
 throwing side-glances at me. Having shut the 
 hall door, I returned to the stranger. I was in 
 a state of mind impossible to describe. 
 
 " Ah ! ah ! what have you done ? How could 
 you? And for what? Why?" 
 
 My visitor put her head on the table and sobbed 
 wildly. 
 
 I began to pace the room up and down, and, 
 happening to glance at the mirror, I saw a face 
 which I could with difficulty recognise as my own. 
 
 " Look here," at last said I to my visitor, " dry 
 your tears. You must know that I myself was 
 the victim of the most abominable deceit." I 
 began relating to her everything that had passed. 
 " You see," said I, finishing, " Grod is merciful, 
 and I am still alive. Now in your turn ; explain." 
 
u8 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 The stransrer could not for a lonsr time utter 
 one word. Having* given her some water, I in- 
 vited her to follow me into the garden. Here, 
 finally, she recovered her power of speech. Two 
 or three times she looked at me humbly, as 
 though asking for pardon, then at length she 
 be^an. 
 
 " My tale is sadder than yours is," she said, 
 sobbing, after we had taken a few turns in the 
 garden, and had sat down ; " but I have been so 
 guilty towards you," covering her face with her 
 hands, " that you will never forgive me." 
 
 " Forget all about that," said I, recovering my 
 composure. " I am ready to forgive everything. 
 All comes from God. . . . Every- 
 thing is in His hands. . . ." 
 
 The stranger turned towards me her pale, 
 sorrowful countenance, and taking me by the 
 hand again began sobbing. 
 
 "You are so generous," she whispered. "Did 
 you ever hear of the fate of Merovitch ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! of course ! " 
 
 " Well ! I am — the guilty cause of his tenta- 
 tive. ... I was his affianced bride, Polixena 
 Pchelkina." 
 
 I was speechless. . . . All the details of the 
 attempt of Merovitch, which I had heard ten 
 
EXPLANATIONS. 119 
 
 years ago from my old grandmother, memory 
 brought back vividly. 
 
 Bending towards her, I took her hand, the 
 one that had just fired at me, and pressed it with 
 emotion. 
 
 " Speak ! speak ! " whispered I. 
 
 " I could no longer remain in Russia," she 
 continued in a strange hurried voice. " For ten 
 years I've wandered in all directions. I lived 
 in the nunneries of Yolhynie and Lithuania. I 
 tended the sick and afflicted. A } T ear ago, re- 
 siding on the borders of the Yolga, I first heard 
 about the Princess Tarakanova, Dame D'Azow, 
 and Wladimirskaya. Persons, quite unknown to 
 me, called me to her side. You can understand 
 how I longed to be near her. I tried to get an 
 interview with her. Furnished with means by 
 those same unknown persons, I first made the 
 acquaintance of the Princess by letter, and then 
 personally at Ragusa. I instinctively believed 
 her. Oh ! I did wish her happiness. Retri- 
 bution for the past ! I took care of her, taught 
 her her native language and history, counselled 
 her, informed her on all points. I followed her 
 everywhere. After her departure from Ragusa 
 to Rome, I wrote to her, exhorted her to take 
 care. I was so convinced of her high destiny. 
 
i2o PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 You know the rest. . . . What Avas my horror 
 when I heard she was arrested ! But I shall 
 remain at Livorno. I shall wait. . . . Oh ! the 
 Livornians will set her free ! But tell me, what 
 do you think of her? Are you also convinced 
 she is no Pretender, but really the daughter of 
 the Empress Elizabeth ? " 
 
 " I can neither affirm nor deny." 
 
 " But I am convinced. That idea is entwined 
 round my heart, and I cannot abandon it." 
 
 My visitor rose. Having thrown her veil over 
 her head, she fixed her eyes upon me, pressed 
 my hand, and, looking as though she wished to 
 say something more, with faltering steps she took 
 her leave. 
 
 " You are good ; you are compassionate," said 
 she, turning round on reaching the garden gate. 
 " Till better times ! " 
 
 I saw this mysterious person once or twice. 
 I went to her by invitation. She was living in 
 a small asteria, at the sign of " The Lily," 
 within the walls of the convent of the Ursu- 
 lines, whither she had taken refuge. She still 
 hoped that the Princess might be saved, in 
 England or in Holland, which our squadron had 
 to pass. 
 
 " She — the persecuted — she is sent from 
 
"THE NORTHERN EAGLE:' 121 
 
 Heaven to resuscitate her birthland," constantly 
 repeated Polixena, at our last meeting. " I 
 believe in her. She will not be lost. She will be 
 saved ! " 
 
 *l* Vfv *$\ *J* 
 
 In the night of the 26th of February, our 
 fleet, under the flag of the Vice- Admiral Greig, 
 was suddenly ordered to raise anchors and sail 
 for the West. Chris tianok, with the report of 
 the count to the empress, travelled by land. 
 He was ordered to go on to Moscow, where, after 
 the execution of Pougachoff, the empress had 
 taken up her residence. Count Alexis Gregore- 
 vitch at the same time left Livorno. His resi- 
 dence there was attended with too much risk. 
 Indignant at his dastardly act, the sons of the 
 ardent and free Italy became at last so enraged 
 against him, that the count, notwithstanding his 
 strong escort, dared not leave the house, and, 
 fearing poison, partook of only bread and milk. 
 
 I started later on. As if at the dictates of a 
 fatal destiny, I was ordered on board the newly 
 manned frigate, The Northern Eagle. This frigate 
 took not only the sick men of the crew, but also 
 the o-reat collection which the count had been 
 at so much pains to acquire, consisting of pictures, 
 statues, bronzes, and other rare things. The}' 
 
122 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 were the fruit of the count's victories in the 
 Turkish and Grecian waters. Amongst other 
 things I found several presents made by the 
 Princess to the count, and, to my astonishment, 
 her portrait, resembling so much Elizabeth. 
 " But God's ways are not our ways." Hardly 
 had we loaded the frigate with the riches of 
 Orloff, and left the harbour, when we encoun- 
 tered a most awful storm. I could not say to 
 the frigate, " You carry Csesar ! " Long were 
 we tossed on the waves, thrown first on the coast 
 of Algiers, then on that of Spain. Near Gibral- 
 tar our two masts and all our sails were wrenched 
 away. Finally, we lost our rudder. For more 
 than a week the current and a light breeze have 
 borne us along: the African coast. We have all 
 lost courage, and can but pray. On the tenth 
 day, that is to say, yesterday, the wind quite 
 fell. I go on writing — but can we expect to 
 be saved in this condition ? The frigate, like a 
 lifeless corpse, maimed and disfigured in battle, 
 
 is borne whither the waves drive her — 
 
 ***** 
 
 Again another hopeless day has passed. The 
 dark terrifying night is coming on. Clouds are 
 gathering ; again the wind is rising ; now it is 
 raining. The coast of Africa has disappeared, 
 
THE FATAL CARGO. 123 
 
 and we are carried on to tlie West. The waves 
 are lashing against the sides of the ships, splash- 
 ing the deserted deck. The leak in the hold is 
 getting larger every minute. The exhausted 
 sailors can hardly pump any longer. The cannon 
 have been thrown overboard. At night we fire 
 our muskets, vainly imploring aid, but there's 
 not a sail to be seen. We, doomed to perdition, 
 are alone. No one hears us. Tragic, awful fate. 
 To be lost on a solitary ship, without hope, and 
 with all the spoils of the commander-in-chief. 
 When will the end come P On which rock is our 
 ship destined to be wrecked, on which fated to 
 founder ? Fit retribution for the action of others. 
 
 The fatal car^o of Count Orloff is hateful to God. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 Three o'clock in the night. My confession is 
 ended. The bottle is ready; and if there's no 
 hope of being saved, I'll throw it in the sea. 
 
 One word more. I should like to let Irena 
 
 my last greeting; my last wish. — She ought to 
 know — Good God ! what is that ? Impossible ! 
 Already the end ? What an awful crash ! — The 
 frigate has struck something. Ah ! screams. — I 
 
 must run to my crew. — His Holy Will be done. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The bottle was thrown overboard, with the 
 
124 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 diary and a note. The last was written in 
 French : " Whoever finds this diary is requested 
 to forward it to Livorno, to the Russian lady, 
 Mistress Pchelkina. Should she not be found, 
 to Russia, Chernigoif, Brigadier Leon Rakitin, 
 for his daughter, Irena Rakitin. May 15th, 1775. 
 Pavel Konsov, lieutenant of the Russian fleet." 
 
 END OF PART I. 
 
PART II. 
 
 RAVELIN ALEXEEF. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 EKATEBINA AT MOSCOW. 
 
 The Empress Ekaterina spent the summer of 
 1775 in the alentours of Moscow, honouring with 
 her presence the village of Kolomensk, and 
 then that of Chernaya-griaz, which she had 
 bought from Prince Kantomir. It had been 
 named in honour of its new mistress Tzaritzin. 
 She, in buying it, intended it to take the place 
 of the Muscovite Tzarskoe-selo. 
 
 On the borders of a dark forest, in the midst 
 of fallen maples, a two-storied wooden palace had 
 been hastily erected, with a few outhouses, some 
 stables and a poultry yard. 
 
 From the windows of her new palace the em- 
 press could admire the extensive and deep clear 
 lakelets shaded by wooded hills, the boundless 
 newly-mown plains, with, scattered here and 
 there, the white shirts of the mowers, and the 
 
 125 
 
126 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 blue and red sarafans of the hay-makers. Be- 
 yond these plains others could be seen, yet 
 untouched by the sickle, sparkling in all their 
 emerald beauty ; and again, beyond these, the 
 newly-ploughed corn-fields, and behind these, as 
 far as the eye could reach, green plains and 
 wooded hills ; all this coloured and warmed by a 
 lovely sun in a blue cloudless sky. 
 
 Life here was simple and free. Through the 
 constantly open windows the scent of the newly- 
 mown hay and of the forest depths penetrated 
 everywhere. Often would a blackbird fly in from 
 the river, and from the plains came the grass- 
 hoppers and the moths. From the early morning 
 the whole Court would be scattered in the forest, 
 picking flowers, looking for mushrooms, fishing 
 or sailing on the lakes, riding and driving in the 
 neighbourhood. Ekaterina, for the time being 
 clothed in a simple white morning robe, and 
 wearing a cap over her simply twisted hair, 
 would be seated at her writing table, writing 
 out schemes and drafts of various ukases, or 
 letters to the Parisian philosopher and publiciste 
 Baron Grimme. She complained to him that her 
 servants would not give her more than two quills 
 a day, as they knew very well that she could not 
 regard with indifference a piece of white paper 
 
"SIR TOM ANDERSON." 127 
 
 and a well-trimmed quill, but must sit down and 
 indulge her mania for paper soiling. 
 
 At the very time when all the world were 
 tiring their brains over the politics of the Russian 
 empress, as to what she would undertake in 
 regard to Turkey, which she had desolated, or 
 were discussing the delayed news of that recently- 
 stifled insurrection on the Volga, the late execu- 
 tion of Pougachoff, and of the mysterious Prin- 
 cess Tarakanova arrested lately at Livorno, 
 Ekaterina was describing to the Baron Grimme 
 the lives of her pet dogs. 
 
 These dogs were called at Court " Sir Tom 
 Anderson, and his consort ' (by second marriage) 
 "Mimi, Lady Anderson.'' They were such tiny, 
 shaggy little things, with sharp, intelligent noses, 
 and comical wiry tails, just like brooms. These 
 dogs had nice little soft mattresses and wadded 
 silk counterpanes, stitched by the hands of the 
 Empress herself. Ekaterina wrote to Grimme, 
 how fond she and Sir Tom were of sitting at the 
 open window, and how Tom, with his fore-paws 
 on the window-sill, notwithstanding his contem- 
 plation of nature, would bark and snarl at the 
 horses towing the barges up the river. " The 
 views around are lovely, though a trifle monoto- 
 nous, and Sir Tom is delighted with the woods, 
 
128 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 the hills, and with the lovely quiet gardens and 
 manors, half buried in bright green, beyond which, 
 in the far-off blue, you can just distinguish the 
 tops of the golden Muscovite churches. This 
 village wilderness and solitude just suit the hearts 
 of Sir Anderson and his consort. Foro-ettin^ the 
 noise of the city and its gaiety, they admire the 
 beauties around them, and it is only at a late 
 hour that they allow themselves to be persuaded 
 to seek their warm wadded coverlets. The mis- 
 tress of the house also likes these solitary Rus- 
 sian hamlets, forests and plains. I love these 
 unploughed new places," wrote Ekaterina to 
 Grimme, " and I must say that I feel from my 
 heart that I only fit in where all is untouched 
 and unspoilt." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE PRINCESS AT ST. PETERSBURG. 
 
 The fresh and clear atmosphere of the Musco- 
 vite environs began to be foggy. Clouds were 
 gathering, lightning darting, thunder rolling. 
 The Court also had its storms. Ekaterina had 
 no easy task in investigating the insurrection of 
 Pougachoff. He astonished every one by pre- 
 serving to the very last minute the firm convic- 
 tion that he would be pardoned, that they 
 would never execute him. " The wretch has not 
 much sense — he still hopes!' wrote the em- 
 press, after reading the interrogation of the 
 Pretender. " Human nature is unfathomable." 
 Pougachoft* was executed in January. l 
 About the middle of May Ekaterina. received 
 information that the squadron under the com- 
 mand of Greig had anchored at Cronstadt. The 
 empress sent her whole correspondence with 
 Orloff about the Pretender to the governor- 
 
 1 His hands and feet were chopped off, and he was then 
 hanged. He himself had executed hundreds thus. 
 
 129 ir 
 
130 PRINCESS TARAKAN01/A. 
 
 general of Petersburg, Prince Galitzin, and gave 
 him the following order : — " Have the voyageurs 
 transferred secretly from the ship, and submit 
 them to the severest interrogation." 
 
 Prince Alexandre Michaelovitch Galitzin, de- 
 feated by Frederick the Great, and afterwards 
 for his victories over the Turks elected to the 
 post of field-marshal, seemed a very imposing 
 personage ; but in reality he was the best-hearted 
 and most modest and just of men, and an entire 
 stranger to all Court intrigues. He was loved 
 and respected by all. 
 
 On the 24th May the prince summoned an 
 officer of the Preobrajenski regiment, by name 
 Tolstoi, made him take an oath of secrecy, and 
 ordered him to start for Cronstadt to receive the 
 prisoner who would be given over to him, and 
 carefully hand her over to the commandant of 
 the Petropavlovski fortress, Andre Gavrilovitch 
 Tchernishoff. 
 
 Tolstoi fulfilled his mission on the night of the 
 25th of May. In a specially manned yacht, he 
 sailed down the Neva very gently to the fortress, 
 where he gave up his prisoner. At first she was 
 lodged hastily in a room just under the apartment 
 of the commandant. Afterwards she was trans- 
 ferred to the Ravelin Alexcef. Oushakoff, secre- 
 
PRINCE GALITZ1X. 131 
 
 tary to the Prince Galitzin, had already prepared 
 a report about her from the papers sent by the 
 empress. Ousliakoff was brisk, pannchy, stout, 
 and always panting and repeating with a knavish 
 smile in his eyes — " Oh ! my dear fellow, so much 
 to do, so much to do ! I only serve the prince 
 for the honour of it, but I ouodit lono- ao*o to have 
 taken my abshiede, 1 I am literally worn out." 
 
 The Prince Galitzin pondered long over the 
 report of Oushakoff, drew up a whole list of 
 questions, and with a very important mien, which 
 did not in the least become his good-natured face, 
 entered the prison of the captive. He was very 
 much put -out by the news which he had just 
 heard, that on the journey, not far from England, 
 the captive had nearly escaped ; that at Plymouth 
 she had all at once thrown herself overboard into 
 a small vessel, which was in readiness for her (as 
 was easily to be seen), and that it was with great 
 difficulty and disregard for her cries and groans 
 that they had managed to get her on board 
 again. The prince was afraid that some one 
 might attempt to effect her escape here. The 
 captive, terrified, confused by all that had hap- 
 pened, by her gloomy and dismal prison, did not 
 deny that she was called and was looked upon as 
 1 German. — " Leave of Absence." 
 
132 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 a Russian errand-duchess. She even went so far 
 as to declare that, recollecting her childhood, 
 she, on the strength of circumstances, believed 
 herself to be the grand-duchess of whom mention 
 was made in the will of the Emperor Peter I., 
 which, she said, she had found among her 
 papers, and which was all in favour of the late 
 Empress Elizabeth, and by the will of Elizabeth 
 made in favour of her daughter. A copy of this 
 interrogation was sent to Moscow to the Empress 
 Ekaterina, who was very indignant at the impu- 
 dence of the captive, and especially when she 
 found a letter addressed to herself, signed " Eliza- 
 beth." " Well, that woman is afieffee canaille" 
 exclaimed Ekaterina, crumpling the letter in her 
 hands, after having; read it. Potemkin was at 
 that time sitting in the study of the empress. 
 " Of whom are you speaking ? ' he asked. 
 
 " Oh ! always about the same vagrant, Ba- 
 tiushka ; about that Italian vagabond." 
 
 Potemkin, — who really pitied Tarakanova, for 
 two reasons : first, because she was a woman ; 
 and then, because she was the prey of Orloff, to 
 him hateful, — began to speak in her favour. The 
 empress, without a word, handed him a whole 
 parcel of German and French newspapers, and 
 1 i.e. " A good-for-nothing hussey." 
 
"A FIEFFEE CANAILLE." 133 
 
 then told him that he would do better to look and 
 see for himself all the calumnies spread about her 
 and this Pretender ; whereupon lie, snuffling and 
 grumbling, began to scan the papers with his 
 short-sighted eyes. 
 
 " Well ! ' asked Ekaterina, looking up from 
 some papers she had been glancing at. 
 
 " Incredible. — So much slander ! It's difficult 
 to give an opinion." 
 
 " To me, it's all clear," said Ekaterina. " Just 
 a second edition of the Marquis Pougachoff ; and 
 you must agree, prince, with me, that it is im- 
 possible to have any pity for this ' victim,' if 
 you like, 'of foreign intrigues.' " 
 
 Galitzin received another order. He was to 
 put down the impudence of the adventuress, 
 especially, as in the words of the English ambas- 
 sador, " she was no princess, but the daughter 
 of an innkeeper of Prague." 
 
 The information of the ambassador regarding 
 her was told to the Princess, at which she was 
 very indignant. 
 
 " If I only knew who slandered me thus," she 
 exclaimed furiously, " I would scratch his eyes 
 out." 
 
 "Good God! what can all this mean?" she 
 would cry out, horrified at her position. "I so 
 
134 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 ardently, so blindly believed in myself, in my 
 mission. Can it be that they are right? Is it 
 possible that under the load of these horrible 
 proofs which are constantly cropping np, I shall 
 have to bid adieu to all my convictions, to all my 
 hopes ? Never, that shall never be. I will rise 
 above all ; I will never give in ! ' That her pride 
 might be taken down, the captive was treated 
 much more severely. She was deprived for some 
 time of the services of her maid, and of many 
 other little comforts. Her food was much more 
 simple, almost coarse ; but all in vain. Neither 
 prayers, nor threats to take away from her her 
 own garments and furnish her with prison 
 clothes could awaken any repentance in her, or 
 extort from her the confession that she was an 
 impostor and not a princess. 
 
 " I am not a pretender, do you hear ? ' she 
 
 would scream in furious indignation to Galitzin. 
 
 " You are a prince ; I only a feeble woman. 
 
 In the name of the All-Merciful God, do 
 
 not torment me ; have pity upon me." 
 
 The prince, forgetting his orders, would begin 
 consoling her. 
 
 " I am pregnant," inadvertently said the cap- 
 tive, crying. "I shall perish, but not alone. . . . 
 Send me where you like — to the Eskimos, to the 
 
POTEMKIN. 135 
 
 snows of Siberia, to a convent. . . . No, 
 on my word of honour, I'm innocent. 
 
 Galitzin became thoughtful. 
 
 " Who is the father of your unborn child ? ' he 
 asked at last. 
 
 " Count Alexis Orloff." 
 
 " Again a lie," said Galitzin. " And why, 
 what for ? Are vou not ashamed to answer like 
 that ? To a man whom the empress trusts so 
 highly, to an old man?" 
 
 "It is only the truth. Before God!" answered 
 the captive, sobbing. " The admiral, the officers, 
 the whole fleet can bear witness to it. . . ." 
 
 The bewildered Galitzin put a stop to his 
 interrogation, and sent a report of the new con- 
 fession to the empress at Moscow. 
 
 * * % * % 
 
 " Miserable, impudent wretch ! " screamed out 
 Ekaterina, after reading this report to Potemkin. 
 See how this new edition of Pougachoff, sent 
 to us by the Poles — how she knows how to 
 slander and calumniate others ! " 
 
 " Well ; but if there should be some truth in 
 it," slowly said Potemkin. " It's so easy to 
 betray a poor, weak, confiding woman." 
 
 " Oh, that's impossible ! " answered Ekaterina. 
 " At any rate, Orloff will soon be here. He'll 
 
136 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 soon tell us all about this false Elizabeth. . 
 And you, prince, in your knightly defence of a 
 woman, do not forget the most important thing — 
 the peace of the kingdom. We went through 
 enough in the last insurrection." 
 
 Potemkin was silent. 
 
 From day to day Orloif was expected. He 
 was hastening from Italy to be present at the 
 celebration of the peace with Turkey. At this 
 time Gralitzin had received other orders, — to de- 
 prive the captive of everything except what was 
 strictly necessary, to make her put on prison 
 clothes, and having sent her maid away, to put 
 two sentinels as a constant watch over her. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE HISTORIOGRAPHER, MILLER. 
 
 The obstinacy of the captive astonished and 
 angered Ekaterina very much. 
 
 " How is this?' she reasoned. " I have con- 
 quered Turkey; Pougachoff has been caught, 
 has acknowledged his imposture, and been 
 publicly executed ; and that miserable, 
 
 puny woman, that adventuress, . . . will not 
 acknowledge anything, and dares to threaten me, 
 from her cellar . . . from her den." 
 
 Potemkin, after having heard from Christianok 
 all the details of the arrest of the Princess, was 
 very morose and silent. Ekaterina ascribed it 
 to his frequent fits of melancholy. 
 
 Soon it became known to many of those about 
 the empress, what means Orloff had employed 
 to entice and then betray the unfortunate cap- 
 tive, and these were soon communicated to the 
 empress through the medium- of her maid 
 Perekousikhin. At first Ekaterina would not 
 believe any of these rumours, and severely repri- 
 
 137 
 
138 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 manded lier maid on tins account. The 
 secret report of the honest and incorruptible 
 Galitzin concerning the position and condition 
 of the captive, all the courtiers had made known 
 to the empress. The womanly heart of Ekaterina 
 was moved with indignation. " Not Radzivill," 
 she said ; " he, threatened with confiscation of his 
 enormous estates, did not betray the devoted 
 woman ! " 
 
 " Betrayer by nature ! ' shot through the brain 
 of Ekaterina, when she recollected the services of 
 Orloff; . . . "ready for anything, unscrupulous 
 in all ; stopping at nothing in his own interests," 
 and then Ekaterina remembered the phrase, 
 "Matoushka Tzaritza, pardon. You didn't think, 
 you did not guess — " 1 
 
 "Not for nothing do they call him butcher," 
 contemptuously murmured Ekaterina. " Oh ! 
 he'll just say that, out of devotion, he ' oversalted 
 it.' . . . Well ! he'll soon be here. He must 
 be made to mend that affair. That fallen one, 
 without family, nameless, tribeless; a toy in 
 the hands of the wicked, in his arms she'll be 
 powerless. . . . And she, after selling beer 
 at Prague, well,! how dares she disdain Russian 
 dignitary or count? Where's — the mesalliance? 1 
 
 1 Ekaterina is here referring to a letter of OrlofFs. 
 
"HE OVERSALTED IT? 139 
 
 The calm village scenes of Tzaritzin and Kolo- 
 menski, began to weary Ekaterina. The forests, 
 the lakelets, the birds and the butterflies no 
 longer brought her peaceful dreams. 
 
 The empress suddenly started for Moscow 
 alone. 
 
 There, in the Chinese city, or Kitai-Gorod, she 
 visited the archives of the Minister of the Interior, 
 where several important papers had been sent 
 for revision. The director of the archives was 
 the celebrated author of the " History of Russia ' 
 and of " The Description of the Empire of 
 Siberia ; ' late editor of the academical journal, 
 " Monthly Compositions;' traveller and Russian 
 historiographer; — the academician Miller. He 
 was then already seventy. The empress herself 
 was very fond of history, and knew him very 
 well, having often had very long conversations 
 with him about his works, and in general about 
 history. She found him in his room, near the 
 archives, busily turning over a heap of old 
 Muscovite manuscripts. 
 
 Miller was very fond of flowers and birds. The 
 rooms of his governmental department, not very 
 lofty, were hung all around with cages of black- 
 birds, bullfinches, and others of the feathered 
 tribe, which quite deafened Ekaterina with their 
 
140 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 loud whistling and twittering. A sdass door 
 opened from the study of the master of the house 
 into another room, ornamented with large plants 
 set in green tubs. The windows were open, but 
 a net which covered them prevented the birds, 
 which were flying about, from taking their de- 
 parture. The neat and pretty, although simple, 
 room was filled with the perfume of roses and 
 heliotropes. The greatest cleanliness reigned 
 everywhere. The floors were as polished as a 
 mirror. Miller was writing at his table near the 
 glass door leading to his aviary. The empress, 
 passing by, motioned the officious servant away,, 
 and came up to him unnoticed. 
 
 " I have come to you, Gerard Feodorovitch,. 
 with a request," said Ekaterina, on entering the 
 room. 
 
 Miller jumped up, apologising for his morning 
 costume. 
 
 u Command me, your Majesty," said he, hastily 
 arranging his dress, and searching with his eyes 
 for his spectacles, which he missed. 
 
 The empress took a seat, invited him to do 
 the same, and the conversation began. 
 
 "Is it true," she began, after having made 
 several gracious inquiries after his health, and 
 that of his large family, "is it true ? — it is said 
 
EKATERINA AND MILLER. 411 
 
 that you have collected evidence, that you are 
 convinced that it was not a usurper, a pre- 
 tender who ascended the throne of Moscow ; 
 that Grishka Otropieff was the real Tzarevitch 
 Dimitri ? You said something about it — to the 
 English traveller, Cox." 
 
 The good-natured, absent-minded Miller, al- 
 ways lost in his researches, was very much puz- 
 zled at this question of the empress. 
 
 " Where on earth could she have heard that ? ' 
 thought he. " Could Cox have blundered it 
 out?" 
 
 "Let us be candid; I'll help you," continued 
 Ekaterina. "Yoii possess a wonderful memory, 
 and withal you are so very perspicacious in deci- 
 phering and comparing manuscripts. Give me 
 openly and boldly your opinion. We are alone; 
 no one can hear us. Is it true that the evidence 
 for the condemnation of the Pretender was weak, 
 almost nothing ? " 
 
 Miller became thoughtful. His grey hair was 
 ruffled, and his good-natured, intelligent mouth, 
 which just before the entrance of the empress 
 had held a half -finished cigar in an amber 
 mouth-piece, was now unconsciously nervously 
 t wit chin o*. 
 
 " Yes, it is true," he answered, hesitating ; 
 
142 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 "but, excuse me, that is quite my own personal 
 opinion, nothing more." 
 
 " But if so, then why do you not publish such 
 a very important judgment ? " 
 
 " But, your Majesty," stammered Miller, look- 
 ing about him with a bewildered gaze, pulling at 
 his waistcoat, " I read the account of the re- 
 searches made by Vassili Shouiski at Ouglitoh. 
 He made those researches by order of Godounoft". 
 It was to his interest to please Boris, and he did 
 this by bringing to him the evidence only of 
 those who affirmed that the Tzarevitch had reallv 
 been killed. Of course, any one can see that all 
 other evidence which might have been disagree- 
 able to Godounoif he would suppress." 
 
 " Which other ? " asked Ekaterina. 
 
 " That another one was killed, and that the 
 former was hidden ; but of course, you know 
 yourself, that this very same Shouiski publicly 
 acknowledged the resuscitated Dimitri." 
 
 " A very witty proof," said Ekaterina. " Not 
 for nothing does General Potemkin, great ama- 
 teur historian, advise me to have all that 
 published, if you are really convinced of its 
 truth ? " 
 
 " Excuse me, your Majesty," stammered 
 Miller ; " the Avill of the empress — is an impor- 
 
THE TZAREVITCH DIMITRI. 143 
 
 tant guide ; but there's another, a power still 
 higher — Russia. I am a Lutheran ; the body of 
 the recognised Dimitri lies in the cathedral of 
 the Kremlin. What would become of all my 
 researches, what would become of my own 
 person, amidst your own nation, if I dared to 
 assert that not Grishka Otropieff had ascended 
 the Muscovite throne, but the real Tzarevitch 
 Dimitri ? " 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MILLER'S REPLY. 
 
 The words of Miller disturbed Ekaterina very 
 much. 
 
 " Well, candid at any rate," thouglit she ; 
 " just like a philosopher." 
 
 " Very well," said the empress ; " let the dead 
 rest in peace ; we will talk about the living. I 
 think General Potemkin has sent you the exam- 
 ination, and the evidence taken in respect of that 
 impudent Pretender, the arrest of whom you 
 have heard about, I suppose? " 
 
 " Yes, he sent them," answered Miller, re- 
 membering at last that the spectacles for which 
 he had been constantly searching with his eyes 
 were on his forehead, and wondering how he 
 could have forgotten that. 
 
 "Well, and what have you to say of that 
 worthy sister of the Marquis Pougacboff ? ' 
 asked Ekaterina. 
 
 Miller at that very moment caught sight, 
 through the glass door, of one of his canaries, 
 a very quarrelsome bird, who had just flown 
 
 144 
 
MILLER'S " LUTHERAN1SM." 145 
 
 into another's nest, the mistress of which was 
 twittering, flying round, and trying to turn her 
 out. His eyes also wandered to a sick blackbird 
 with its leg bound up. 
 
 Miller, recollecting himself, and colouring at his 
 own timidity and absent-mindedness, answered, — 
 
 " The Princess, if she is Russian, learnt Rus- 
 sian history very insufficiently ; that's the main 
 thing I have to say, after reading her papers ; 
 but of course, that would be more her teacher's 
 fault." 
 
 " Well, what do you think ? Can it be that 
 there is a spark of truth in her tale ? ' asked 
 Ekaterina. " Do you suppose for one moment 
 that the Empress Elizabeth might have had 
 such a daughter, and hidden her from all eyes ? ' 
 
 Miller was just on the point of answering : 
 " Oh ! yes, of course ; what is there in all that 
 so very improbable ? " but he remembered at 
 that minute about the mysterious youth, Alexis 
 Shkourin, travelling now in foreign parts, and in 
 his confusion fixed his eyes on the glass door of 
 his aviary. 
 
 " Well, and why do you not answer ? ' said 
 Ekaterina, smiling. " Your Lutheranism does 
 not stand in the way here." 
 
 " Well, everything is possible, your Majesty," 
 
 L 
 
146 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 said Miller, shaking liis grey curly head. " Peo- 
 ple do say all sorts of things ; some of them may 
 be true." 
 
 " Look here — would it not be strange ? ' said 
 Ekaterina. " The late Razoumovski was a very 
 good man, and although secretly, still he was 
 the lawful, husband of Elizabeth. Why trample 
 under foot all the laws of nature ? Why this 
 heartless denial of their own daughter ? ' 
 
 " Then it was one century, now it's another," 
 answered Miller. " Morals differ ; if the new 
 Shouiski-Shouvalovi could hide for so many years 
 in solitary confinement the, to them, dangerous 
 Prince John, proclaimed in his infancy emperor, 
 what is there here so very strange, if, in their 
 thirst after influence and power, they should 
 have sent to the end of the earth, or, at any rate, 
 hidden another infant, this unfortunate Princess ?" 
 
 "But, Gerard Feodorovitch, you forget the 
 most important thing — the mother ! How could 
 the empress have borne that ? You cannot deny 
 her heart was in the right place ; and then, all 
 this was not about a strange child, like Ivanu- 
 shka, but about her own forsaken daughter." 
 
 "Well! oh, it is very simple," answered 
 Miller. " Razoumovski, I should think, had 
 nothing at all to do with it. The whole intrigue 
 
THE SH0U1SKIS. H7 
 
 was brought to bear on the empress — not on the 
 mother. . . . Very likely, many reasons were 
 brought forward, and she consented. This secret 
 daughter was hidden, sent to the South, and then 
 over the Urals. In the papers of the Princess 
 she speaks of poison, of flight from Siberia 
 to Persia, afterwards to Germany, and then 
 to France. . . . The Shouiskis of our days 
 have repeated the old tragedy. In guarding 
 the empress, they still kept in readiness for 
 any emergency, a new refugee, saved by them 
 from another world." 
 
 Ekaterina here remembered that Orloff, in one 
 of his letters, had spoken of a Russian traveller, 
 Ivan Shouvaloff, who was even now in foreign 
 parts. 
 
 " With you, one might go on talking for ever," 
 said Ekaterina, rising. " Your memory in itself 
 is a whole archive, and a priceless one, too ; and 
 Russian history, is it not true ? like Russia 
 itself, is richest virgin-soil. How lovely our 
 boundless corn - fields ! But then, again, the 
 weeds. Ah, apropos I I do always admire your 
 flowers and your birds. Now, do pay me a visit 
 at Tzaritzin. Grimme has sent me a whole 
 family of the loveliest cockatoos. One of them 
 is always repeating ' ou est la verite? 9 " 
 
148 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Having with special graciousness thanked 
 Miller for his information, the empress returned 
 to the palace. Soon after this event, the hero of 
 Chesma, Orloff, made his appearance. 
 
 Alexis Gregorevitch failed to recognise the 
 court. With new faces, a new order of things 
 had been introduced. The count did not at 
 once receive the honour of an interview with the 
 empress. He was told she was not quite well. 
 This made him feel very anxious. Well versed 
 in court life, he scented disfavour in the air. It 
 became urgent to take measures. Very diffi- 
 dently, Alexis Gregorevitch turned to some of 
 the courtiers to try and get an audience with the 
 new sun, Potemkin. The interview took place 
 with great politeness on both sides, but no 
 geniality. Their old friendship and fraternity 
 had been left far behind. They conversed till 
 
 midnight, but the guest felt he had learnt very 
 little. 
 
 " Yes, now it's all without measure, all over- 
 flowing," said Potemkin en passant, speaking 
 about something. Orloif long pondered over 
 those words. " Overflowing ! " — well, had not he 
 also filled the measure too full ? 
 
 In the morning he was invited to ero to the 
 empress, whom he found bathing her dogs. 
 
ORLOFF AND EKATERINA. 149 
 
 " Sir Tom Anderson," who had already been 
 taken out of the bath and wiped dry, was warm- 
 ing himself under his coverlet. His consort, 
 " Mimi," was still in the water. Ekaterina sat 
 near, holding ready the warm coverlet. Perekou- 
 sikhin, in a large apron, her sleeves rolled up to 
 the elbows, was very energetically rubbing the 
 little dog with a sponge and soap. Quite wet, 
 and white from the soap, Mimi, on seeing the 
 big goggle-eyed stranger, began barking most 
 furiously and straining to get at him. 
 
 " Ah ! from water to water," said Ekaterina 
 jokingly. " Welcome back to your native land. 
 We shall soon be ready." 
 
 Having wrapped Mimi up warmly and put her 
 in the basket, the empress dried her handSj and 
 remarked : — 
 
 " As you see, friends first of all ! ' She took 
 a seat, pointed out a chair to Orloff, and began 
 questioning him about his journeys, about Italy, 
 and the Turkish affairs. 
 
 " But, oh ! Batiushka Alexis Gregorevitch, 
 you oversalted, oversalted it," said the empress, 
 producing her snuff-box, and slowly taking a 
 pinch. 
 
 " In what, your Majesty ? " 
 
 " In that certain little affair," smilingly 
 
150 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 answered Ekaterina, menacing him with her 
 finger. 
 
 Orloff noticed the smile, but at the same time, 
 in that very same joke, he noticed a well-known 
 — to him — -bad sign. The round, strong chin of 
 Ekaterina trembled slightly. 
 
 " In what ? Matonshka Tzaritza, and in what 
 is my crime ?•" he asked, stammering. 
 
 " Comment done, Monsieur ? Yes, really over- 
 salted it," continued Ekaterina, slowly taking 
 another pinch from her snuff-box. 
 
 At this, Orloff, like a child, lost all self- 
 possession ; his eyes wandered timorously round 
 the room. 
 
 " You know ; our captive," said the empress, 
 — " Ob, I suppose you've heard it; she'll soon be 
 two. 
 
 The athlete Orloff knew not what to do in his 
 confusion. 
 
 " I am lost, completely lost ! " thought he ; 
 and his disgrace, his downfall arose before his 
 eyes. " Mercy, oh God ! " 
 
 "But that we may arrange, matters may be 
 mended," continued Ekaterina. " You might go 
 to Petersburg, see the captive. To celebrate the 
 peace, you have returned to her as her bride- 
 groom." 
 
ORLOFF CONFUSED. 151 
 
 Orloff knit his brows, bent one knee to the 
 ground, kissed the hand that was held out to him, 
 and silently left the room. At the door, he re- 
 gained his self -composure. 
 
 " Well ! what ! the empress ! What did she 
 say ? " asked the courtiers. 
 
 " I have been honoured with a special invita- 
 tion to the fetes," answered the count, " and now 
 I am going to Petersburg to arrange my brother's 
 affairs." 
 
 Count Orloff tried to seem very elated, very 
 proud. . . . He understood that it was better 
 for him to make haste. It was clear that the 
 empress was not joking. Under pretence of an 
 interview with his brother, he hastened the pre- 
 parations for his journey, and was soon on his 
 way to Petersburg. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ORLOFF AND THE PRINCESS. 
 
 Worn out with her long sea voyage and imprison- 
 ment, the captive dragged on a miserable exist- 
 ence in the fortress. An acute fever, a sharp 
 cough, accompanied by frequent hemorrhage, had 
 develoj3ed into rapid consumption. 
 
 The frequent visits and questions of the field- 
 marshal Galitzin always threw the Princess into 
 fits of passion. 
 
 " What right have you to treat me like this ? " 
 she would say in an imperative voice. <k What 
 reason have I given for such treatment ? " 
 
 "Written orders from a higher power — the 
 will of the empress ! ' answered, panting and 
 puffing, the secretary, Oushakoff. 
 
 In the capacity of secretary to the Commission 
 which had been appointed, he had large means 
 placed at his disposal. Therefore, continually 
 complaining of fatigue, of a mass of occupations, 
 and even of pains in his spine, he lingered over 
 the evidence, brought forward a multitude of 
 
 1E2 
 
THE PRINCESS IN PRISON. 153 
 
 facts, began a long correspondence about her 
 affairs, and in general led the good-natured 
 Galitzin by the nose, and on the savings made 
 from the money allotted for the keep of the 
 captive managed to buy a nice little house in the 
 courtyard already belonging to him in the Goro- 
 khoviya. 1 
 
 In the interval, the false testament found 
 among the papers of Tarakanova was shown to 
 her. 
 
 " Well, what have you to say to that?" asked 
 •Galitzin. 
 
 " I swear by the Almighty God, by eternal 
 damnation, that I am the author of none of those 
 unfortunate papers. I was told all that.' 5 
 
 " But they are in your own handwriting." 
 
 " Perhaps — it interested me." 
 
 " Then you do not wish to confess to anything, 
 •or explain the truth ? " 
 
 " I've nothing to confess. I lived in freedom, 
 I did harm to no one. I was betrayed, made 
 prisoner by treason." 
 
 Galitzin began to lose patience. " What a 
 ;she-devil they've handed over to me ! " thought 
 .he. " Extract a secret from a stone like that ! " 
 'The prince groaned aloud and rubbed his nose. 
 
 1 A street in St. Petersburg. 
 
154 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " But, your Grace, recollect," once whispered 
 the officious Oushakoff, " your hands are un- 
 fettered. In the last ukase it makes mention 
 of the utmost severity, of investigation without 
 partiality." 
 
 " Well, of course, one might try," muttered 
 the bewildered prince, who was in general averse 
 to any severe measure. " Shall I try ? It won't 
 be worse than it is." 
 
 " In the name of the empress," severely said 
 the field-marshal to the commandant, in the 
 presence of the captive, " in view of her obstinacy 
 — deprive her of everything, except the strictly 
 necessary clothing and bedding. You hear, every- 
 thing — books, and other things, there ; and then, 
 if that does not answer, put her on common 
 prison food." 
 
 The orders of the prince were carried out. 
 The poor, ailing girl, brought up in luxury and 
 comfort, began to receive nothing but black 
 bread, soldier's Jcasha (porridge), and sclii (sour 
 cabbage soup). Although hungry, she would sit 
 for hours shedding bitter tears over the wooden 
 bowl, but not touching it. On the way to Russia, 
 near the shores of Holland, where the squadron 
 had anchored to take in provisions, she had read 
 in a newspaper, which had fallen by accident into 
 
SEVERER TREATMENT. 155 
 
 lier cabin, all the past life of Orion , and trembling 
 with passion, she had cursed her folly in having 
 believed in such a man. But worse misery 
 awaited her. Two soldiers were assigned to the 
 captive, and kept watch in her room, night and 
 day. All this would throw the prisoner into fits 
 of passion. 
 
 " Repent," Galitzin would say to her. " I pity 
 you from my heart, but without repentance, 
 don't expect forgiveness." 
 
 " I'll accept every torment, even death, Sir 
 Marshal ; I'll accept everything," said the cap- 
 tive. "But you are mistaken. . . . Nothing 
 can make me withdraw my evidence." 
 
 " Think over it. ..." 
 
 " God is my witness. . . . My torments will 
 fall on the heads of my tormentors." 
 
 " She'll think over it, your Grace ! " whispered 
 Oushakoff, turning over some papers. " One 
 more experiment. She'll come round all right." 
 
 The experiment was tried. Her Venetian silk 
 nightdress was exchanged for one of sackcloth. 
 
 " Almighty God ! be witness of my most secret 
 thoughts," prayed the captive. " "What am I to 
 do, what shall I undertake ? I believed in my 
 past. It all seemed so plain. I was accustomed 
 to think of it all, to live in that idea. Neither 
 
i 5 6 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 the treason of that monster, nor my captivity, 
 has been able to shake my conviction. No, and 
 not even this iron dungeon, which seems to crush 
 me, can do that. Death is not far off. Oh ! 
 Mother of God, oh ! lowly Jesus, help me. Who 
 will give me strength, who will guide me, who 
 will save me — from all these horrors, from this 
 prison r 
 
 * * * * 
 
 ^ 
 
 One cold rainy evening, a hired carriage with 
 the blinds drawn down drove up to the perron of 
 the commandant of the fortress of Petropavlovski, 
 Andre Gavrilovitch Tchernishoff. Half an hour 
 afterwards, Orloff and the commandant walked 
 in the direction of the Ravelin Alexeef. 
 
 "Failing," said the commandant, walking on, 
 " failing rapidly, especially with this dampness. 
 Yesterday, your Grace, she begged for her own 
 clothes and books ; they were returned to her." 
 
 The sentinels were called out of the room of 
 the Princess. Orloff entered the room alone. 
 Tchernishoff remained outside the door. In the 
 dusk, the count could hardly see the low-ceilinged 
 room, with two deeply set windows with thick 
 iron oratinofs. Between the two windows stood 
 a small table with two chairs. A few books were 
 scattered on the table together with some other 
 
ORLOFF VISITS THE PRINCESS. 157 
 
 things, and, covered with a coarse cloth, stood the 
 untouched food. On the right-hand side stood a 
 screen. Behind the screen was a small table 
 with a water-bottle, a glass, and a cup, and sur- 
 rounded by chintz curtains, a small iron bedstead. 
 On the bed, in a white dressing gown and cap, 
 lay a girl, so pale, one might think she was dead, 
 covered with a blue velvet mantilla. 
 
 Orloff was struck by the frail look of her, who 
 such a short time ago had been so stately, and so 
 charmingly beautiful. There flashed across his 
 mind remembrances of Italy, tender letters, the 
 ardent courtship, the journey to Livorno, the feast 
 on the ship, Ribas and Christianok travestied in 
 the old clerical vestments. " Oh ! why did I 
 play that comedy with the marriage ceremony ? ' 
 thought he. " She was really on board my ship, 
 in my hands." And vividly there flashed through 
 his mind the picture of the arrest of the Princess. 
 He remembered her cries on deck, and the next 
 day his message to her through Konsov, a letter 
 in German, describing his own false sorrow, oaths 
 of faithfulness till death, and assurances of love. 
 "What sorrow has fallen upon us" — trying to 
 write the most tender words, he had said. " We 
 are both arrested, in chains ; but God, the All- 
 merciful, will not forsake us. Let us put our trust 
 
158 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 in Him. As soon as I get my liberty, I'll search 
 the whole world till I find yon, to guard and 
 serve yon all my life." " And I have found her ; 
 here she is ! " thought Orloff, involuntarily shud- 
 dering, not daring to cross the threshold. At 
 last he ventured near her, close to the screen. 
 At the sound, the unfortunate girl opened her 
 eyes, looked at her visitor, and rose. Her auburn 
 hair, at one time so luxuriant, fell from under her 
 cap, and half-covered her poor pale face, dis- 
 torted by illness and passion. 
 
 " You ? You — in this room — near me ! " 
 screamed out the Princess, recognising her 
 visitor, and stretching out both her hands in 
 front of her, as though driving away some awful 
 apparition. 
 
 Orloff stood motionless. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ORLOFF'S INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCESS 
 
 The words seemed to burst from her throat, and 
 die upon her lips. She threw herself back on 
 the bed to the farthest side of the wall, where 
 with flaming eyes she looked ready to devour 
 Orloif, who stood gazing at her horror-stricken. 
 
 " Yes ! we are married, are we not ? Ha, ha, 
 ha ! we are man and wife ? " said she, but a con- 
 vulsive cough cut short her indignation for the 
 moment. " Where have you been all this time ? 
 You promised, I waited." 
 
 " Look here," gently said Orloff, " let us forget 
 the past, let us play comedy no longer. You 
 must realize by this time that I was the faithful 
 slave of my sovereign, and that I only obeyed 
 her commands." 
 
 " Treachery, deceit ! ' screamed the unhappy 
 girl ; " never will I believe it. . . . Do you hear 
 me? The great and powerful Russian empress 
 would never have had recourse to such perfidy." 
 
 " I swear to you they were her orders. . . ." 
 
 159 
 
160 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 "No, I do not believe one word of it, traitor," 
 screamed the unfortunate girl, shaking her fists 
 at him. " Ekaterina could command anything — 
 
 demand my surrender, burn down the town that 
 gave me refuge, take me by force, but not that. 
 But you, you yourself, might have pierced me 
 with a dagger, poisoned me. You knew of 
 poisons, — but what have you done with me ? 
 what ? " 
 
 " One moment of calmness, I implore you," at 
 last said Orloff. " Answer me one word, only one 
 — and I promise you, on my word of honour, 
 that you shall be set free immediately. 
 
 "What new invention is that, monster ? Speak, 
 traitor," said the Princess, recovering some com- 
 posure, as shudderingly she drew the blue man- 
 tilla, so well known to the count, closer around 
 her. 
 
 " You have been questioned so long, and with 
 such persistency," began Orloff, trying to give 
 his voice a tender and convincing tone, " tell me 
 now all — we are alone ; God only can see and 
 hear us." 
 
 "Gran Dio!" said the unfortunate girl, "he 
 invokes the name of God," added she, raising her 
 eyes to the image of the Saviour which hung on 
 the wall over the head of her bed ; " he ! Very 
 
'Teter created Russia, 
 ' £katerina gave her a soul/ 
 
THE INTERVIEW. 161 
 
 likely you have arranged tins slow torture, this 
 torment ! and yet you boasted that torture was 
 abolished here. The empress, I am sure, knows 
 nothing of all this. In this matter she has been 
 deceived, as in everything else." 
 
 "Be calm, be calm. . . . Tell me, who 
 are you?" continued Orloff; "hide nothing. 
 I'll implore the empress ; she will be merciful 
 to you and to me. . . ." 
 
 " Dlavolo ! he asks, ' Who am I ! ' " she 
 stammered, half stifled by a new fit of anger. 
 " But cannot you see I have done with the world ? 
 I am dying ; then to what end all this?" She 
 again began to cough most awfully, and leaning 
 her head against the wall, was silent. 
 
 " There, — she'll die without having: confessed 
 anything," thought Orloff, as he stood by her. 
 
 " In riches and in happiness," said she, coming 
 to herself, " in humiliation and in prison, I re- 
 peat constantly the same thing — and you know it 
 well. I am the daughter of your late empress," 
 proudly said she, rising. " Do you hear me, 
 miserable, wretched slave, I am your born grand- 
 duchess. . . ." A bold idea flashed through 
 Orloff' s mind. . . . "Ah! what's in a word?" 
 thought he ; " she won't live long, and at one 
 stroke I'll please them both." 
 
 M 
 
162 rRLXCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 He bent on one knee, grasped the frail pale 
 hand of the captive, and ardently pressed it to 
 his lips. 
 
 " Your Highness ! " stammered he. " Elise ! 
 pardon, I swear — yes, I am guilty, — but those 
 were the orders. I myself was arrested. Only 
 now have I received my liberty. . . ." 
 
 The poor girl raised her big, astonished eyes 
 to his face, covering her mouth with her hand- 
 kerchief to stop the blood. 
 
 " I implore you, I promise you, we will be 
 really solemnly married," continued Orloff. " You 
 shall be my wife — and then, your Highness — my 
 darling, . . . my own Elise, rank, riches, 
 
 faithfulness, life-long devotion. . . ." 
 
 " Out ! away ! monster ! " screamed the cap- 
 tive, jumping up. " This bruised hand princes, 
 kings sought — it's not for you to touch it, 
 branded traitor, inquisitor." 
 
 "Well, she doesn't choose her words," thought 
 to himself the Commandant Tchernishoff, who, 
 standing outside the door, could easily hear the 
 French abuses and the curses of the prisoner ; 
 "better take myself off. If the count knows all 
 this has been heard, his little vanity will be 
 pricked, and it is just possible he may take his 
 revenge." The commandant walked off. 
 
"SHE IS A SERPEN 7) A VIPER!" 163 
 
 The jailer, standing in the long corridor, with 
 his keys, and also hearing the, to him, qnite 
 unintelligible cries, the stamping of feet, and, as 
 it seemed to him, the noise of things being thrown 
 at the visitor, also walked off into a corner, think- 
 ing to himself : " Ha, ha, Mamzoulka (Mademoi- 
 selle), it seems, is asking for better food; it 
 seems it's not in the articles. She's screaming at 
 the general, oho ! Of course it's not for such as 
 she, so thin, to eat schi and schi. Yesterday, for 
 the first time, they gave her milk." The furious 
 screams continued. Then came the sound of 
 broken glass. The door of the dungeon was flung 
 open rapidly, and Orloff, humbly bending under 
 the door, too low for his tall person, came out. 
 His face was purple ; he lingered for a moment in 
 the corridor, and stared about him, as if collect- 
 ing his thoughts. Having felt under his arm for 
 his cocked hat, passed his fingers through his 
 hair, and pulled down his coat, he briskly and 
 smartly drew himself up, and silently walked out 
 in the pouring rain, jumped into the carriage, 
 and shouted to the coachman, " General Pro- 
 
 cureur.' : 
 
 As he left the fortress behind him, Orloff be- 
 gan turning over in his mind the details of the 
 last interview. 
 
1 64 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " Well, she is a serpent, a viper ! " lie whispered 
 to himself, looking out into the streets from the 
 carriage window : " didn't she sting ! " 
 
 Very reservedly, and with plenty of self- com- 
 posure, he entered the house of the Prince 
 Alexander Alexeeovitch Viazimski. It was al- 
 ready late. The candles were lighted. Orloff 
 shivered, and rubbed his hands together. 
 
 " Take a seat," said the general procureur. 
 "What! cold?" 
 
 " Yes, prince, a little." 
 
 Viazimski ordered a servant to bring in liqueurs. 
 The servant soon came, bringing a lovely decan- 
 ter, and a silver basket containing ginger biscuits. 
 
 " Pray help yourself, count. . . . Well ! 
 what about our usurper ? ' ' continued the general 
 procureur, putting aside some papers that he had 
 just been looking over. 
 
 " Impudent beyond all bounds ; still persists 
 . . ." answered Count Alexis, pouring himself 
 out a wineglassful of the rich liqueur, and raising 
 it first to his nose, and then to his lips. 
 
 " Well, of course ! " said the prince ; " she has 
 no wish to part with her so-called titles and 
 rights cheaply." 
 
 " Oh ! she'll give plenty of trouble yet ; other 
 measures than those are wanted," said Orloff. 
 
ORLOFF AT THE PROCUREUR'S. 165 
 
 "But what others, Batienka ? Her last minutes 
 are drawing: near. . . . You would not have 
 her strangled ? " 
 
 " And why not ? " whispered Orloff, as if to 
 himself, dipping a biscuit into a fresh glass ol 
 liqueur . " Pity for such like ! " 
 
 The general procureur threw a side-long glance 
 from behind the green abat-jour on his visitor. 
 " And you're not joking, Alexis Gregorevitch ? 
 It's your advice ? " 
 
 " Oh ! for the good of my country, and like a 
 true patriot — not only would I advise, but very 
 much recommend," answered Orloff, walking 
 backwards and forwards, munching the sweet 
 melting biscuits. 
 
 " Mais, c'est un assassin dans Vdrne /" thought 
 to himself the great judge, 1 whose personal ap- 
 pearance was austere and generally gloomy, as 
 he listened in horror to the soft, cat-like tread 
 of Orloff on the carpet ; " c'est en Iwi comme une 
 mauvaise habitude ! " 
 
 Orloff took out his eye-glass, and, biting a fresh 
 biscuit, began to admire a picture of Psyche and 
 Cupid on the wall. 
 
 " Whence came this picture ? " asked he. 
 
 1 The general procureur is the highest authority iu legal 
 matters. 
 
1 66 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " It is a gift from the empress. . . . Count, 
 when do you think of returning to Moscow ? ' 
 
 " To-morrow morning. I shall not of course 
 delay my information, but shall instantly report 
 the fresh obstinacy of that impudent liar." 
 
 Viazimski knit his bushy eyebrows. " Do you 
 know anything about the information of the 
 prisoner on your own account?" he grunted out, 
 turning over some papers. 
 
 Orloff let drop his half-eaten biscuit. 
 
 " Yes ! Now, just fancy ; you'll not deny all 
 this is disgusting. My faithfulness, devotion, 
 honour, she has spared nothing. . . . And 
 let me tell you what is more astonishing than 
 everything else, that that she-devil fell over head 
 and ears in love with me, and invented, goodness 
 knows what ; but even just now the hussy has 
 had the impudence to bid me acknowledge a 
 marriage with her." 
 
 "Well! I can only wonder," said Viazimski; 
 
 " that disguise in clerical vestments — excuse me, 
 
 what need for such sacrilege ? Oh ! you'll have 
 
 a deal to answer for, to God, Batiushka Count. 
 
 All that would haunt me." 
 
 Orloff tried to turn it all off as a joke, tried to 
 go on talking, but the gloomy silence of the bear- 
 like Procureur showed him that his credit at 
 
ORLOFF AT THE PROCUREUR'S. 167 
 
 court had been long on the decline, and that he, 
 notwithstanding his late services, might, like use- 
 less old rubbish, hope for only one thing — to be 
 left alone and forgotten. 
 
 " My annals are finishing, it seems. I shall 
 soon be at the bottom of the river," thought 
 OrlorT, on leaving Yiazimski. " They'll put me 
 under hatches somewhere in Moscow, or perhaps 
 farther. We are grown old, out of fashion ; we 
 must clear the way for new-comers." 
 
 He was so much disturbed by his reception at 
 the procureur's that the next morning he had a 
 special service celebrated in the Church of the 
 Holy Virgin Mary, and before his departure for 
 Moscow he even paid a visit to an Armenian 
 fortune-teller on the Litienaya. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 OELOFF AT MOSCOW. 
 
 The peace with Turkey was publicly celebrated 
 at Moscow on July 13th. Galitzin was not for- 
 gotten, and, for having cleared Moldavia of the 
 Turks, received from Petersburg a rich sword 
 studded with diamonds. Orloh received a testi- 
 monial, a rich dinner service, one of the Imperial 
 properties near Petersburg, and the title of 
 " Chesmenski." 
 
 "Put up on the shelves of the archives, wholly 
 thrown over!" thought Alexis Grregorevitch. He 
 was not allowed to follow the court to Petersburg. 
 From this time Moscow was assigned to him as a 
 residence, as also to many of the other supporters 
 of Ekaterina. It would have seemed that the 
 days of Chesmenski flowed on peacefully and 
 pleasantly in his splendid Muscovite palace ; but 
 the retainers of the count began to notice that 
 he often had fits of melancholy — that very often, 
 without any reason whatever, he would have fune- 
 
 16S 
 
ORLOFF AT MOSCOW. 169 
 
 ral masses celebrated, or a special service with 
 Acathistus, 1 or would call in the gipsy fortune- 
 tellers, and they would hear him often murmur 
 and complain of the " Traitress Fortune," who in 
 former times had so spoilt him with her favours. 
 
 If Count Alexana would drive out his fleet 
 steeds on a beautiful frosty evening, flying along 
 the streets, glancing at the passers-by from under 
 his rich fur cap, thickly studded with frosty 
 diamonds, his thoughts would carry him back to 
 other blue, but warm skies, to the azure shores of 
 the Morea and the Adriatic, to the Roman and 
 Venetian marble palaces. If in autumn the sleet 
 were driving, promising a splendid hunt, the 
 count would ride in the neighbourhood of Otradi 
 or Niaskouchnavo, and, after having driven the 
 mother hare out of the birch copse, and started 
 his favourite harehounds on her track, would 
 gallop on his gallant Kabardinetz furiously in 
 pursuit, but all at once he would rein in his 
 steed and stop. The rain might brush the wet 
 branches of the birch in his face, the horse 
 might splash through the pools and mud, but the 
 count's thoughts had wandered far away, to that 
 far-off Italy, to Home, Livorno, to the unfortu- 
 nate, by him betrayed, Tarakanova. 
 
 1 A service in honour of our Lord and the Virgin Mary. 
 
i7o PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " Where is she ? What has become of her?' 
 he would think. " Has she survived her child's 
 birth ? Is she still there, or have they hidden 
 her even farther away ? " 
 
 After the fall of the favourite, Prince Gregory, 
 his brother, Count Alexis Chesmenski, retired so 
 quickly from court that he not only knew 
 nothing positive, but even dared not try to know 
 anything positive about the unfortunate beauty 
 whom he had carried off and betrayed. 
 
 That same year, in autumn, rumours were 
 spread in Moscow that a very important mys- 
 terious personage had been brought over from 
 Petersburg, and sequestered in the Novo Spaski 
 Nunnery ; that she had been compelled to take 
 the veil, and had been named Docife, 1 and was 
 now locked up in a secluded cell. 
 
 The Muscovites whispered loudly that the new 
 nun was the daughter of the late Empress Eliza- 
 beth, by her secret husband Razoumovski. 
 
 What emotions the count underwent, are only 
 known to himself. 
 
 "It is she ! it is she ! ' he would murmur in 
 his agitation, not knowing that his victim, the 
 
 1 " Docife " is supposed to have been another daughter of 
 Elizabeth Petrowna. It is known that she died in the 
 nunnery referred to. 
 
V0LK0NSK1 VISITS ORLOFF. 171 
 
 Princess Tarakanova, still hopelessly languished 
 in the fortress. " It can be no one else ; of course 
 not. She has renounced everything, she has 
 submitted, she has taken the veil." 
 
 Thoughts of the newly-arrived captive troubled 
 him so much that he even avoided driving in the 
 street where the convent was, and if this were 
 impossible, he would avoid looking up at the 
 windows. 
 
 " Traitor, murderer ! ' would resound in his 
 ears, on recollecting his last interview with the 
 Princess. In bitter anguish he would remember 
 every detail of that interview, when she had 
 loaded him with curses, stamped at him, spat in his 
 face, and passionately flung at him whatever came 
 near her hand. Once, when the Prince Volkonski 
 had paid him an unofficial visit, to see over his 
 stables and horses, Chesmenski tried to bring the 
 conversation round to the Princess. They had 
 returned from their walk to the stables, and 
 were taking tea. The count be^an in a round- 
 about way to refer to foreign and home news, and 
 rumours, and then, as if merely en passant, asked 
 who the person was whom report said had been 
 brought to the convent ? 
 
 " Why do you ask that ? " suddenly inter- 
 rupted the prince, Michael Xikititch. 
 
172 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " What ? " asked the bewildered Chesmenski. 
 
 " Nothing ! " answered Volkonski, turning 
 round, and looking aimlessly out of the window. 
 " I was just recollecting a little Petersburg in- 
 cident, that happened last year at Court. 
 
 " What incident ? Honour me, Batiushka 
 Prince ! ' said the count, with a smile and a bdw. 
 " You see, here I hear nothing and see nothing 
 of the new, curious, and to us very often incom- 
 prehensible occurrences in the court regions ? ' 
 
 " Well ! as you please," said Volkonski, clear- 
 ing his throat, and continuing to gaze out of the 
 window. " The incident, if you like, is not very 
 important, rather comical than otherwise. You 
 know the wife of the General Major Kojin ? 
 Marie Dimitrievna, who is so lively, so beautiful 
 and such a chatterbox ? " 
 
 " Oh, of course, who does not know her ? I 
 often used to meet her, before my departure for 
 foreign parts." 
 
 " Well ! you know, she babbled out, it is 
 said, somewhere . . . that some one . . . 
 well ! we'll call them the Abaloshoffs, it's all the 
 same, I've forgotten who — had decided on patron- 
 ising the new lucky man, Peter Modrvinoff. . . . 
 Of course you know." 
 
 Orloff silently inclined his head. 
 
VOLKONSKPS LITTLE TALE, 173 
 
 " Patronise . . . well ! you understand, 
 trip him up. . . ." 
 
 " Who ? " asked Orloff. 
 
 " Well ! it would seem Gregory Alexandrovitch 
 Potemkin." 
 
 "Well! and what then ? " 
 
 " Well ! this," continued the prince. " In 
 somebody's private rooms, Stephan Ivanovitch 
 Sheshkovski was hurriedly called, and the 
 following orders were given : — ' Batiushka, go 
 immediately, this very minute, to the masquerade, 
 find out the Generalsha Kojin. Having found 
 her, carry her off to the secret department, and 
 having given her a slight taste of corporal 
 punishment, as a small token of remembrance, 
 bring back the aforesaid little lady, with all 
 honour, and deliver her safely over to the mas- 
 querade." 
 
 "And Sheshkovski?" 
 
 " Well ! he took the little lady, whipped her 
 soundly, and brought her back, with all honour, 
 to the masquerade, and she, that no one should 
 get a hint of this curious little incident, said 
 nothing, and very wisely and assiduously went 
 through all the dances to which she had been 
 invited — every one to the last — minuet, cotillon, 
 and all." 
 
174 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Orloff understood well the bitter allusion, and 
 never mentioned Docife again. 
 
 Neither did the count find any pleasure in his 
 conversations with his intendant, Terentitch 
 Cabanoff, who sometimes used to come from 
 Krenova to Niaskouchnavo. Terentitch was a 
 serf, but knew how to read and write. He was 
 always dressed in the latest fashion, with a 
 pearl-grey leaf tan l and waistcoat, shoes with 
 huge steel buckles, ruffles, and a black silk 
 purse 2 to his powdered pigtail. 
 
 The count would pour out for him a goblet 
 of rich foreign wine, saying, " Taste that, old 
 fellow. . . . It's not wine I've poured out, 
 it's a man's life, . . . elixir." Terentitch would 
 refuse. 
 
 " No ! No nonsense, old man ! ' would press 
 the count. " Don't forget the proverb, ' Enjoy 
 life while it lasts.' Be merry, in that alone lies 
 happiness. Unfortunately, not for all." 
 
 " Too true, Batiushka Count ! ! would answer 
 Cabanoff, drinking off the goblet. " We, well ! 
 we are but serfs ; . . . but you, ought you 
 to sigh, ought you not to enjoy sweet life in your 
 
 1 A Persian coat. 
 
 2 A fine black silk net as worn in England about the time 
 of George II. and George III. 
 
ORLOFF AND TERENTITCH. 
 
 /:> 
 
 own lovely, beautiful manors ? The sites are 
 so dry, so gay, the sloping fields are so fruitful ; 
 springs of water, forests, groves, everywhere. 
 The serfs so industrious, so hardy, no beggars, 
 thanks to you, our benefactor. We have noticed 
 long ago, sir, that you are always very sad, and 
 have heard something 1 now and then which makes 
 us all very anxious." 
 
 " Doubt and suspicion, my dear fellow, will 
 constantly exist," answered the count. " Last 
 autumn, you yourself wrote to me, when I was 
 in foreign parts, praising the coming crops, and 
 how did they turn out ? to be of no account at 
 all ? No, the proverb says, ' Don't count your 
 chickens before they're hatched ! ' " 
 
 "Yes, it's the truth you're saying," answered 
 Terentitch, sighing. 
 
 " And in all other things," continued the count. 
 " I go about a great deal, and many come to me, 
 and, would you believe it ? I know nothing of 
 what I used to know before. Phylia was high 
 in favour, every one sought his patronage, but 
 now, . . ." the count was silent and thoughtful. 
 
 " See there ! " thought Cabanoff, looking at 
 him, " with that strength, those riches, to be 
 thus slighted." 
 
 "Ah! yes, old man," continued Orloff, "hard 
 
176 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 times are come. I feel as if between two mill- 
 stones. My services are ended; no one requires 
 them any more, and here, at home, there is 
 nothing but ennui" 
 
 " Count, fire purifies gold," answered Teren- 
 titch, " misfortune, man. Wood won't burn with- 
 out shavings. ... I misfit look out for some 
 for you.'* 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " Get married, your Grace." 
 
 " Oh ! well, prate about that to others, but not 
 to me," answered Chesmenski, remembering that 
 Konsov had given him the same advice not Ions: 
 before. 
 
CHAPTER XXIY. 
 
 THE PRINCESS WRITES TO THE EMPRESS. 
 
 Meanwhile, tlie position of the Princess Tara- 
 kanova liad remained the same. During the 
 celebration of the peace with Turkey, in Moscow, 
 she had been forgotten. However, when all had 
 become quiet again, new points of condemnation 
 were found against her. She was again cross- 
 examined. Even Sheshkovski was called, and 
 let loose on her, and the cross-examinations were 
 more frequent. Worn out by her illness and 
 mental anguish, as well as by her miserable and 
 unusual surroundings, and by the presence of 
 the two sentinels in her room, she began fading 
 rapidly. There were even days when her end 
 was expected every minute. After one of these 
 terrible days, the unfortunate captive seized a 
 pen, and wrote a letter to the empress. 
 
 " Snatching myself from the arms of death," 
 she wrote, " I throw myself at your feet. You 
 ask, who I am ? but can the fact of birth be 
 
 177 
 
178 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 made a crime of, for any one ? Night and day 
 men are in my room. My sufferings are such 
 that my whole being is shaken. In refusing me 
 mercy, it's not to me alone you refuse it." The 
 empress was very much troubled that she could 
 not leave Moscow herself and personally see the 
 captive, who excited in her by turns the deepest 
 anger, and, involuntarily, the most profound 
 pity. 
 
 In the month of August, Field -Marshal 
 Galitzin paid the Princess another visit. 
 
 " You called yourself a Persian. Then you 
 said you were born in Arabia; you gave your- 
 self out next as a Tcherkeshenka ; and at last as 
 our grand-duchess," he said. "You stated that 
 you knew the Oriental languages ; we gave your 
 letters to persons who know those languages, but 
 they could make nothing out of them. Is it 
 possible — excuse me — that this is also deceit on 
 your part? " 
 
 " Oh ! how stupid all that is ! " answered 
 Tarakanova, with a contemptuous smile, and again 
 coufflrinor « Do Persians and Arabs teach their 
 wives to read or write ? In my childhood I 
 learnt a little by myself, and therefore I ought to 
 be believed more than your readers." 
 
 Galitzin was too sorry for her to go on 
 
THE END NEAR. 179 
 
 questioning her on all the points written clown 
 by Oushakoff. 
 
 " Look here," said lie, dashing away a tear, 
 seeming to recollect something which was a great 
 deal more serious and important, " there's no 
 time for disputes now . . . your strength is 
 failing you. ... I have not received permis- 
 sion ; yet I will give orders for you to bo trans- 
 ferred into a better and more spacious apartment, 
 and your food shall be brought you from the 
 table of the commandant. . . . AVould you 
 not like a priest . . . you understand . 
 we are all in the hands of God ... to pre- 
 pare you . . . for . 
 
 " For death . . . is it not true ? " inter- 
 rupted the captive, shaking her head. 
 
 " Yes ! " answered G-alitzin. 
 
 "Yes, I feel myself it is true." 
 
 " AVhom would you like ? ' asked the prince, 
 leaning over her. " A Catholic, a Protestant, or 
 one of our own faith ? ' ' 
 
 " I am Russian," said the Princess, " there- 
 fore send me one of our own faith, if you please." 
 
 " So, everything is finished ! " thought she the 
 next night, sleepless as always ; " darkness with- 
 out dawn, anguish without end, death . 
 there it comes. It will soon be here, soon — 
 
1S0 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 perhaps to-morrow. And they're not yet tired 
 of questioning. 
 
 The captive arose, leaned her head on the side 
 of the bed. " But who am I after all ? she asked 
 herself, raising her eyes to the image of the 
 Saviour. " Is it so difficult to sum up every- 
 thing in these my last minutes ? Perhaps. — Is 
 it possible that I am not really the one I thought 
 myself to be ? No, I do not acknowledge that ! 
 But why not ? Is it from a feeling of disgust 
 towards them, or from too great a passion ; or is 
 it revenue for a name disgraced, for a woman 
 crushed ? " 
 
 And then she tried again to remember all her 
 past, to recollect its smallest details. Days long 
 past crowded her memory. Her luxurious gay life, 
 her successes, her triumphs, her visits and her 
 levees, her balls. " Courtiers, diplomats, counts, 
 even reigning princes ; how many adorers I 
 have had," thought she. " There must have been 
 some reason why they should all have courted me 
 so, offered me their hearts, their riches, sought my 
 hand. . . . For what? for my beauty, for 
 my power of pleasing, for my talents ? But there 
 are many beautiful, talented women far more 
 wily than I; why did not the Prince Limbour- 
 ski go mad over them ? Why did he not give 
 
MEMORIES. 1S1 
 
 them, as he gave me, liis lands, his castles ? 
 Why didn't he make these over to them instead 
 of to me, as ' granted ' estates ? Why only to me 
 did all the i Radzivills ' and ' Pototskis ' cling ? 
 Even the powerful favourite of the Russian 
 Court, Shouvaloif, sought an interview with me. 
 Why was I surrounded with such profound, 
 almost devotional respect P Why was my past 
 history so eagerly searched out ? Yes, I was 
 selected by Providence for some special end, of 
 which I myself am ignorant. 
 
 " Childhood ! — there alone lies the key to it 
 all," whispered the poor captive, grasping at 
 her earliest recollections ; " there alone lie the 
 proofs." 
 
 But it was just that very childhood which was 
 so bewildering to her own mind. She recollected 
 the isolated hamlet somewhere in the South, in a 
 desert, the large shady trees, the low cottage, the 
 kitchen garden, and beyond, the boundless fields. 
 A good, kind old woman dressed and took care of 
 her. Then came the journey in the comfortably 
 balanced cart, filled with fresh, perfumed hay, 
 other boundless fields, rivers, mountains, forests. 
 "But who am I?' she would cry in anguish, 
 sobbing and striking her poor senseless head ! 
 " They want proofs ! — but where are these to 
 
182 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 be found ? What can I add to what I have 
 already said ? How can I myself separate the 
 truth from the fiction which life has mixed up to- 
 gether ? And how could a poor, weak, deserted, 
 helpless child know that one day she would be 
 called to account for her own birth ? The judg- 
 ment concerning me is unjust, illegal. It's not 
 for me to help to convince my persecutors. Let 
 them disgrace me ; let them hunt me down ; let 
 them finish their work; I am not answerable, 
 either for my birth, or for my name. ... I 
 am the only living witness of my past ; there is 
 no other. Why are they so furious ? God does 
 many wonders. Is it possible that He, to avenge 
 a poor, persecuted creature, will not perform a 
 miracle, will not open the door of this stone coffin, 
 of this awful fatal dungeon ? 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 FATHER PETER ANDREEF. 
 
 The last warm days of autumn had already 
 passed, and cold and gloomy November had 
 brought its rains and mists. 
 
 Father Peter Andreef, the high priest of the 
 Cathedral of Kazan, was a man in the prime of 
 life, highly educated and well read. 
 
 In the autumn of 1775 he was expecting from 
 Tchernigoff, his niece and god-daughter Vara. 
 She had written to her uncle, that she would 
 arrive in Petersburg with a companion, a young 
 lady, who was coming in the hope of presenting 
 personally to the empress a petition on a very 
 important subject. The little house of Father 
 Peter, with an entresol, 1 and a perron standing- 
 out in the street, was built behind the cathedral, 
 and stood by the side of the palace of the 
 Hetman, Razoumovski. The old oaks and the 
 lindens threw their shade over its red-tiled roof, 
 
 1 Entresol, a suite of apartments between ground and first 
 floor. 
 
 1S3 
 
1 34 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 even extending their wide-spreading branches 
 over the priest's little yard. 
 
 A widower for already several years, the 
 childless Father Peter led the life of a hermit. 
 His gates were always closed, and an enormous 
 watch-dog, Polkan, on hearing the slightest noise 
 would bark in the most furious fashion. The 
 few and far between visitors who wished to 
 speak to the priest always came through the 
 street-door, which was also kept constantly closed. 
 The letter of his niece gave a great deal of 
 pleasure to Father Peter, but he also found in 
 it something very extraordinary. Vara wrote to 
 him, that the young mistress of the neighbouring 
 estate had a little while as^o received from 
 abroad, together with a letter addressed to her, 
 a packet of papers covered with writing, which, 
 as the letter told her, had been found on the sea- 
 shore in a bottle. " Dear godfather and uncle, 
 forgive my foolishness," wrote Vara to her uncle, 
 " but after having read these papers together, the 
 young lady and I have decided on coming to 
 Petersburg, and we shall soon be there. Whom 
 could I recommend the unfortunate orphan to 
 go to if not you. She buried her parents a year 
 ago. In the papers sent her there is so much 
 concerning an important person, that before decid- 
 
FATHER PETER RECEIVES A LETTER. 185 
 
 ing on speaking about it, there is a great deal 
 to think over. First, the young lady thought 
 of sending the papers to Moscow, to the empress, 
 but on reflection we decided otherwise. You, 
 dear uncle, know everything. You go every- 
 where, you are respected by every one, there- 
 fore you can easily advise us what to do. The 
 name of the young lady is Irena Lvovna, and 
 her surname — she is the daughter of the 
 Brigadier Rakitin." 
 
 " Ah ! youth, youth ! " thoughtfully shaking 
 his head, said the priest on reading this letter. 
 " Ah ! the magpies, what crazy ideas ! to come 
 all the way from Tchernigoif to Petersburg to 
 get my advice. . . . They've fallen — well — 
 they've found some one !" 
 
 Every evening, at twilight, Father Peter was 
 wont to light the candles, and having put on 
 his house cassock, to walk up and down the 
 little linen drugget which ran through all the 
 rooms, from the little hall, through the drawing- 
 room, dining-room, and into the bedroom. He 
 would look after his plants, especially his gera- 
 niums, standing on the window-sills ; pull off the 
 dry leaves and pick out the weeds ; and would 
 arrange the books on the table, and o*aze at his 
 favourite blackbird asleep in its cage, at the 
 
1 86 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " ikons " and images in the corner, at the lighted 
 lamp, and would begin musing and thinking — 
 — when at last would those rooms be filled 
 with mirth and life, when would his magpie 
 come ? 
 
 The two girls arrived. The house of the priest 
 became at once bright and lively. The sprightly 
 gay Yarushka quite bewildered her uncle with 
 news about his birthplace, their acquaintances, and 
 journey adventures. Listening to her, Father 
 Peter thought within himself, " How time flies ! 
 Is it so long ago that she was brought here, a 
 wild, snub-nosed, and sulky little lass ? and now 
 — look at her, so sprightly, so gay, so clever! 
 Yes, and her companion, she is a beauty ! Those 
 thick black braids, and what eyes ! But quite 
 in another style to my Vara ; so thoughtful, dis- 
 creet, serious and proud !" 
 
 After the first joyful questions and answers, 
 the priest was obliged to celebrate the vesper 
 service, and his visitors having hastily established 
 themselves in the attic, took everything that was 
 necessary, and started for the bath, accompanied 
 by the cook. On returning home they established 
 themselves in the corner by the fireside, and 
 there Father Peter found them, as red as boiled 
 lobsters, their heads tied up with coloured hand- 
 
FATHER PETERS VISITORS. 187 
 
 kerchiefs, drinking tea. It was long past mid- 
 night when they at last rose to go to bed. 
 
 " Well ! my young lady, and where are the 
 papers you have brought with you?" said Father 
 Peter, rising. " It interests me also ; what is 
 it all about ? " 
 
 The girls began searching in their bundles, 
 found the roll — on it was the inscription, " Diary 
 of Lieutenant Konsov." 
 
CHAPTER XXYI. 
 
 THE VISITORS' QUEST. 
 
 Father Peter retired to his chamber, drew the 
 curtains, put the candle on the night-table, threw 
 himself without undressing on the bed, unrolled 
 the crumpled manuscript of blue foreign note- 
 paper with gilt edges, and began reading. He 
 did not close his eyes till morning. 
 
 The whole history of the Princess Tarakanova, 
 or Princess Wladimirskaya, of which Father Peter 
 had only heard the most contradictory rumours, 
 was now open to him, with unexpected details. 
 
 " Ah ! that is what it is about," he thought, 
 on reading the first lines ; " about the mysterious 
 Princess." 
 
 Sometimes he would leave off reading the 
 manuscripts, and lie with closed eyes, then again 
 begin to read. "And where now is that poor 
 unfortunate, betrayed girl ? " he asked himself, 
 on reading the incident of Livorno. " Where is 
 she now dragging out her miserable existence ? 
 And he, who wrote these lines, was he saved ? " 
 
 188 
 
THE MANUSCRIPT. 1S9 
 
 One candle after another burnt out. Father 
 Peter finished the manuscript, snuffed out the 
 last little piece of candle, and began walking up 
 and down on the drugget. He went on walking 
 till dawn reminded him that he had not slept all 
 niodit. " What events ! ah ! what events ! "What 
 an unfortunate tissue of incidents ! " whispered 
 the priest. " Poor martyr! May Grod help her!' 
 
 The blackbird in the cage woke up, and seeing 
 the very unusual promenade of its master, set 
 up a loud unwonted scream. 
 
 " He'll wake every one up," thought the priest. 
 
 He returned on tiptoe to his bedroom, threw 
 himself on his bed, and began reflecting on all 
 that he had read. His thoughts wandered to the 
 last reign, to the sea of mysterious and common 
 events, known to others as well as to him; at 
 last he fell asleep. 
 
 The sound of the bells ringing f or morning 
 service awoke him. The pale November sun 
 was struggling through the curtains. Father 
 Peter locked up the manuscript in the drawer of 
 his table, went to church to celebrate morning 
 service, and returned home, through the back 
 door, into the kitchen. On seeing his god- 
 daughter going up the attic stairs with a hot iron 
 in her hands he beckoned her. 
 
190 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " Tell me, Vara," lie whispered ; " be wlio 
 wrote tliat diary — Konsov — must, it's plain, have 
 been her fiance ? " 
 
 Vara moistened ber finger and tben touched 
 the hot iron; it fizzed. 
 
 " He did woo her," she answered, dangling her 
 iron.' 
 
 "Well! and what then?" 
 
 " Well ! Irena Lvovna liked him. Her father 
 would not hear of it." 
 
 " Then the match was broken off ? " 
 
 " Of course ! " 
 
 "And now?" 
 
 " Well, what can I say ? She is an orphan 
 now, and of course would be delighted. She is 
 her own mistress — but where is he ? " 
 
 " Oh ! of course the ship was wrecked," said 
 Father Peter. 
 
 " And in our wilderness, what could we learn 
 about it ? Uncle, you might go and make some 
 inquiries of naval people, because, you see, not 
 onlv the command was lost, but all the count's 
 riches. . . . Somewhere, you would be sure 
 to learn something." 
 
 " Who sent your friend this diary ? " 
 
 "God alone knows. The post brought it; 
 Irisha received it. On the roll was only 
 
INQUIRIES. 191 
 
 6 RakitiD,' and the address ; and in the note, writ- 
 ten in French, it was merely said that the manu- 
 script had been found by some fishermen in a bottle 
 on the sea-shore. Irena is now the only survivor 
 of Rakitin . . . and so of course she received it." 
 
 The priest, without saying anything either to 
 his niece or her friend, began most energetically 
 to make inquiries in all directions, but his efforts 
 were fruitless. 
 
 The only information he gained at the Marine 
 Department was that the frigate, The Northern 
 Eagle, which, was laden with the rich collections 
 of Count Orloff, had been driven along into the 
 Atlantic Ocean — it had been seen for some time 
 beyond Gibraltar, near the African coast, not far 
 off from Tangiers — and that in all probability it 
 had been shipwrecked and sunk not far from the 
 Azores or the Canaries. Of the fate of Lieu- 
 tenant Konsov nothing could be gathered ; it was 
 not even known for a surety whether he was on 
 the frigate or not, as the whole of the crew had 
 perished. The commander of the squadron, and 
 Admiral Greig, were both now in Moscow, and 
 there remained no one else to apply to. There 
 had been some rumours in foreign newspapers 
 that a disabled ship had been seen somewhere 
 about on the ocean, but with no crew on board, 
 
192 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 as far as could be noticed ; it was being driven 
 by the storm in the direction of the Azores or 
 Madeira. The violence of the storm had effectu- 
 ally prevented any efforts being made to rescue it. 
 
 " Poor young girl ! " thought the priest, look- 
 ing at Rakitina ; " so clever, so modest, so rich, 
 and so young. They would have been a couple, 
 if God bad only spared him ! No, he must be 
 dead. Had he been alive, he would have sent 
 some token to his native land, to bis fellow 
 officers, to his relations.'' 
 
 Once, when lie had some spare time, he took 
 the opportunity of speaking witb Irena. 
 
 " Young lady," said he, "I have heard from 
 my niece of your loss. Of course, it is plain your 
 enemies had their own reasons for separating 
 you from your wooer and giving you another. 
 "Why did it all happen ? Why was Konsov 
 treated with such disdain ? " 
 
 " I know not myself," answered Irena. " My 
 late father was very fond of Pavel Efstafitch, was 
 always very kind to him, treated him not only as 
 a near neighbour, but as one dear to him. And 
 I, what words can describe mv love for him ? 
 lived only in his love." 
 
 ''Well, then, how came this separation about?' 
 
 " Oh, don't ask me," said Irena, covering her 
 
FATHER PETER AND I REN A. 193 
 
 face with her hands. " It is such anguish to me 
 — such grief. We saw each other often, corre- 
 sponded ; we used to have meetings. I gave 
 him my word ; we were only awaiting a fitting 
 time to tell all to my father." 
 
 Rakitina was silent for some minutes. 
 
 " Oh, it is dreadful to recollect it all ! ' she 
 continued. " I suppose some one must have 
 calumniated Konsov to my father. All at once — 
 it was evening — I saw the horses being pat to 
 the carriage. ' Where to ? ' I asked. My father 
 would answer nothing. My things were carried 
 out, put into the carriage. At that time a rela- 
 tive from Petersburg was on a visit to us. We 
 three took our seats in the carriage. ' Where 
 to?' I again asked my father. ' Oh, hereabouts, 
 not very far ; we will just have a drive,' said my 
 father, joking. Yes; it turned out a nice joke! 
 We went on with post-horses, without one relay, 
 as far as our other property, one thousand versts 1 
 distant. I could neither write nor send any 
 message to Konsov for a lon^ time, I was watched 
 so closely. It was only when my father fell 
 dangerously ill that I implored him not to break 
 my heart, but to allow me to w r rite to Konsov. 
 He began crying bitterly, and said, ' Forgive me, 
 
 1 663 miles. 
 
 
 
194 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Irisba. We Lave both been deceived cruelly.' 
 ' What ? what ? ' I could only ask. ' Is it pos- 
 sible that that cousin sought my hand? ' 
 
 " ' Not your hand, my dear, but the money,' 
 my father said. ' He intercepted one of Konsov's 
 letters to you, and so stirred up my anger against 
 him, that I decided on carrying you off. Forgive 
 me, Irenushka, forgive me. God has punished 
 him, the wicked one. He borrowed a large sum 
 from me, lost it at cards in Moscow, and has blown 
 his brains out. He left a letter . . . there it 
 is, read it ... I received it a few days ago.' 
 
 " My poor father did not live long after this. 
 I returned to my own property, but of Konsov 
 I could get no tidings. His grandmother was 
 also dead. I wrote to Petersburg, whence he had 
 started, wrote into foreign parts, to the fleet; but 
 then war was raging, and of course he did not 
 get my letters. Then his captivity in Turkey 
 . . . then . . . and that is all my sad fate.' : 
 
 " Pray, my dear young lady, pray," said the 
 priest. " Your lot is a bitter one ; only the good 
 God above can help you." 
 
 Meantime, several days passed by. Rakitina, 
 ceaselessly without respite, went about gathering 
 all the information she could, regretting neither 
 time nor money, but all was of no avail. 
 
"IT HAUNTS ME NIGHT AND DAY!" 195 
 
 " I can see, Irena Lvovna," said Father Peter 
 to his guest one day, " that you are constantly 
 going about, first to one, then to another, trou- 
 bling yourself and all for nothing. I have heard 
 it said that the empress will not be here for some 
 time yet ; why should you not write to the 
 superior officer of Pavel Efstafitch, to Moscow ? 
 may not the Count Orloff know of something ? " 
 
 " Thank you, Father," answered Rakitina, bow- 
 ing. " Let us pray God that we may learn some- 
 thing about that unfortunate ship without a crew, 
 and if no one else were saved, perhaps Konsov. 
 . Yesterday Count Panin promised me to 
 get some information from a foreign Marine 
 Department — in Spain — in Madeira; Von Yiesing, 
 the author, has also offered his services. Shall 
 I not hear of something ? I shall wait a little 
 longer; still I ought to be going home, but how 
 can I go without any hope ! Oh ! that unfor- 
 tunate ship, it haunts me night and day ! . . ." 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A LATE VISITOR. 
 
 The evening of the 1st of December, 1775, was 
 particularly wet and windy. The snow which 
 had fallen in the morning was now all melted ; 
 there were pools of water everywhere; the few 
 and far between carriages and pedestrians gloomily 
 splashed along the streets. There was a storm. 
 The wind howled over the house of the priest, 
 shaking the shutters, and bending the enormous 
 trees in the garden of the Hetman. The Neva 
 was swollen ; an inundation was imminent. From 
 time to time could be heard the gloomy sound of 
 the cannon from the fortress. 
 
 Father Peter was in the attic with the girls, 
 and very thoughtful. The conversation could not 
 be kept up to the accompaniment of the howling 
 wind ; it frequently had to be broken. Vara was 
 telling the cards ; Irena appeared very displeased, 
 and was relating with a very discontented face 
 what leeches the secretaries in the Foreign De- 
 partment were, the interpreters, and even the 
 
 190 
 
A KNOCK AT THE DOOR. 197 
 
 very scribes. Notwithstanding the orders and 
 personal interest of Count Panin, they had as 
 yet done nothing in Spain or on the islands. 
 Projects were made on paper, copied, translated, 
 everything, only to drag on. 
 
 " Yon should just oil a little . . . through 
 the servants, or somehow," said the priest. 
 
 " Oh ! she gave without stint," answered Vara 
 for her friend. 
 
 " Oh ! those laggards," said Father Peter. 
 " Yes, it's high time our empress should return 
 from Moscow. We are badly off without her." 
 
 The rain beat furiously on the windows like 
 hail. The poor trembling drenched dog had 
 hidden himself in his kennel, as though acknow- 
 ledging that in such a storm, and with the cannon 
 firing, no one would take the trouble to disturb 
 him. All at once, after one of the booms of the 
 cannon from the fortress, the dog began to bark 
 
 ' OCT 
 
 most angrily, and, above the roar of the wind, 
 the noise of the shutting of the gate was dis- 
 tinctly heard. Both girls shivered. 
 
 " Axenia is asleep," said Father Peter, speak- 
 ing of the cook. " Some one wants me, I sup- 
 pose, and could not make himself heard at the 
 front door." 
 
 " Uncle, I'll go and open it," said Vara. 
 
193 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " Oh ! with your courage ! You'd better sit 
 still." 
 
 The priest, taking the caudle in his hand, went 
 down and opened the door. There entered a not 
 verv tall, but stout man, with a red face. He 
 had a cocked hat and sword, and seemed as if 
 he had got rather wet while waiting at the 
 perron to have the door opened. 
 
 " Secretary to the commander-in-chief, Ou- 
 shakoff," said he, shaking himself. " I am come 
 to you on a secret mission." 
 
 The priest felt a little frightened. He remem- 
 bered the papers brought by Rakitina. He shut 
 the door, and invited his guest into the study, 
 lighted a second candle, and having given his 
 visitor a chair, took one himself and sat down 
 to listen. 
 
 " ' The Sermons of Massillon' ? "said Oushakoff, 
 rubbing his cold hands, and looking at the book 
 of celebrated sermons lying on Father Peter's 
 table. " Then I suppose you know the French 
 language well ? " 
 
 "I understand it a little," said the priest, 
 thinking within himself, " AVhat can he want with 
 me at this late hour ? " 
 
 " Very probably. Batiushka, you understand 
 German also ; and, who knows, perhaps Italian ? " 
 
A SECRET MISSION. 199 
 
 " I learnt German, and of course Italian re- 
 sembles Latin very closely." 
 
 " Consequently," continued the stranger, " you 
 know a little of those languages ? " 
 
 " Well ! here's a Preceptor come to examine 
 me," thought the priest. 
 
 " Yes ! a little," lie answered. 
 
 " Is it not strange, Father Peter, such ques- 
 tions ; especially in the middle of the night ? ' 
 said the stranger. "Now, confess; you do find 
 
 •j " 
 
 it strange ? 
 
 "Yes ! it is rather late," said the priest, gaping 
 and looking at him. 
 
 Oushakoff crossed one leg over the other, and 
 looking up to the wall, saw a portrait of the then 
 disgraced Archbishop Arsenia Matzaevitch, and 
 thought to himself, " Ah ! well, he sympathises 
 with that scoundrel. I shall have to be very 
 determined with him, very brusque ! " 
 
 " I will not delay any longer," said he. " This 
 is what it is. His Grace, the commander-in- 
 chief, desires your Right Reverence to take all 
 the necessary vessels, and immediately, without 
 any delay, to follow me ... to a foreigner 
 — of the Grecian Faith. . . ." 
 
 " But what is all this about ? " 
 
 " To celebrate two Sacraments." 
 
55 
 
 5 55 
 
 200 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " But which ? " 
 
 " Excuse me, but is it necessary for you to 
 know, beforehand ?" answered Oushakoff. " There 
 must be no hesitation. The orders come from 
 high powers." 
 
 " I must get everything ready," answered the 
 priest, " so I must know which." 
 
 " First Baptism, then Confession, and Holy 
 Communion," answered Oushakoff. 
 
 " JN T ow, in the night ? " 
 
 " Just so. A carriage is waiting. 
 
 " May T take the clerk ? " 
 
 " The orders are, s without any witnesses. 5 
 
 " Where is it, if I may ask ? " 
 
 " 1 cannot answer. You will know all after- 
 wards. Now, only one thing ; there must be no 
 delay, and the most profound secrecy," said 
 Oushakoff, with a haughty inclination of his head, 
 although in earnest of his request, he pressed 
 with both his hands his cocked hat, dripping 
 with the rain, to his breast. 
 
 "May I at least tell my household, and allay 
 their anxiety ? " 
 
 Oushakoif knit his brows, and silently shook 
 his head. The priest took the cross and books, 
 called to Vara in the attic to shut the door, and 
 by the time his niece had descended, the carriage 
 
"WITHOUT ANY WITNESSES:' 201 
 
 was rolling noisily away in the street. Driving 
 up to the palings of the church, Father Peter 
 woke up the clerk, went into the church, and 
 took the chalice. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 The carriage stopped at the house of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief Galitzin. The prince was in- 
 formed of the arrival of the priest, and ordered 
 him to be brought to his bedroom, where he was 
 awaiting him in his dressing-gown. 
 
 " Mille pardons, Batiushka," said the prince, 
 hurriedly dressing. "Most important affair; 
 by orders of the highest authority. You must 
 first give me your oath that you will be silent 
 for ever on everything heard and seen this night. 
 Do you swear ?" 
 
 " As one offering up a bloodless sacrifice," 
 answered Father Peter, " I will be faithful to 
 my Sovereign, without any oaths." 
 
 Galitzin was a little embarrassed at first, but 
 he did not insist. He related to the priest a 
 few of the circumstances concerning the captive. 
 
 "Did you ever hear anything of her before?' 
 he asked the priest. 
 
 " Yes ! a few rumours did reach me. . . ." 
 
 202 
 
FATHER PETER AND GALITZIN. 203 
 
 " Have you heard that she is now in Peters- 
 burg?'' 
 
 " I hear it for the first time." 
 
 Galitzin told him of the anxiety of the em- 
 press, of the several foreign inimical parties, and 
 of the false wills. 
 
 " The doctor has quite given her up," added 
 the field-marshal. " Not only lier days, but 
 her hours are numbered." 
 
 Father Peter crossed himself. 
 
 " She wishes to be prepared," continued the 
 prince, as if choosing his words. " It is not 
 for me to teach you what to do. Most probably, 
 like a good shepherd, you will lead her to a full 
 Confession and Repentance as to who she is, 
 and if she has taken a name not belonging to 
 her, and who incited her to do it ? . . . Will 
 you do this ? " 
 
 The priest lingered with his answer. 
 
 " Give your word that you will help justice.' 1 
 
 " I know my duty and my obligations as 
 minister of God," answered Father Peter, drily, 
 cousrhingr. 
 
 " You may go," said the prince, bowing. 
 " You will be conducted where you are needed. 
 As to me, I hope you will excuse the trouble 
 I have given you at such a late hour." 
 
204 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 The carriage, with the priest and Oushakoff, 
 took the road to the fortress. At the door of 
 the commandant's they noticed another car- 
 riage. 
 
 The priest was led into a special room, where 
 he saw the General Procureur, Prince Viazimski. 
 Near the prince stood the tall, manly, ruddy- 
 faced commandant of the fortress, Tchernishoff, 
 and, near the latter, his still young-looking and 
 smartly dressed wife. 
 
 " Is everything ready ? ' asked Yiazimski, 
 looking round. 
 
 " Everything is ready," answered the Com- 
 mandantsha, 1 trembling and bowing in her 
 rustling farthingale. 
 
 " Be so good as ... " said the Prince 
 Viazimski to the priest. 
 
 They all went into the next room, where 
 candles in the tall silver candlesticks had already 
 been lighted. Between them stood a font, and 
 near it a woman, commonly dressed, and holding 
 in her arms something wrapped in white. 
 
 " Begin, Holy Father," said Viazimski, pointing 
 to the font and to what the woman held. 
 
 Father Peter put on his vestments, took the 
 
 1 A wife, in Russia, always takes her husband's title, 
 adding only a feminine suffix. 
 
"WHOSE CHILD?" 205 
 
 censer from the hands of Tchernishoff, opened 
 the Prayer- Book, and began the ceremony. 
 
 The sponsors were the finely dressed, affected 
 wife of the commandant, and the general pro- 
 cureur himself. 
 
 They gave the newly christened babe the name of 
 Alexander. The ceremony was finished ; the com- 
 mandant sha, with the babe in her arms, continued 
 turning and twisting about, trying with her airs 
 and graces to attract the attention of the general 
 procureur to herself and her rustling silk dress. 
 
 " Whose child ?" asked the priest, lowering his 
 voice, and respectfully inclining the cross towards 
 the godfather, who drew near. 
 
 Yiazimski looked at him, quite taken aback. 
 "Under what name must I inscribe him in the 
 register ? " asked Father Peter. " Who are the 
 parents ? " 
 
 "But is that absolutely necessary?" asked 
 the general procureur, in a displeased voice. 
 
 " As you may order. . . . By right, the cere- 
 mony requires it. Who knows what may happen 
 in the future ? . . . We are bound. . . ." 
 
 " Right," said Viazimski. " Alexander Alexeef, 
 son of Chesmenski." 
 
 The priest silently, with a trembling hand, 
 inscribed the name in the baptismal register. 
 
206 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " Now another Sacrament. . . . Here is your 
 guide," said the Prince Viazimski sighing, point- 
 ing to the smart commandant, who was stand- 
 ing drawn up to his full height. " I hope that 
 everything will be fulfilled according to orders." 
 
 With these words, he left the room and drove 
 home. 
 
 Father Peter, holding the chalice to his breast, 
 followed TchernishofF. His heart beat faster 
 when, having crossed the little bridge in the 
 interior, they entered a special yard, surrounded 
 by a high wall. He at once understood that they 
 had entered the fatal Ravelin of Alexeef. 
 
 The priest and his guide, mounting a few steps, 
 entered a long, dimly lighted corridor, and stopped 
 before a low door. 
 
 " She is here," w r hispered the priest to himself. 
 The door led into a rather low but very com- 
 fortable room. There were no sentinels now. 
 The candle near the bed shed a feeble light on 
 the other part of the room, through a purposely 
 arranged silk curtain. The room was close, and 
 a faint odour of medicine and incense pervaded 
 it. The priest glanced around, and silently 
 stepped behind the screen. 
 
 The sick girl lay motionless on her bed, but 
 was quite conscious. 
 
"PRAY FOR ME." 207 
 
 She slowly raised her eyes to the visitor, and 
 recognising that it was the priest by his dress, 
 gently sighed, and held out her hand. 
 
 " I am very, very glad, Holy Father," she whis- 
 pered in French. " Perhaps you would prefer 
 German ? " 
 
 " Oai ! Oui, comme il vous plait," stammered 
 Father Peter, shivering involuntarily at the 
 sound of that deep, broken contralto. 
 
 " I am ready ; ask," stammered the captive. 
 " Pray for me." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION. 
 
 The priest carefully put the chalice on the table, 
 drew a chair near the bed, passed his fingers 
 through his bushy hair, and glancing at the 
 image over the head of the sick girl, gently bent 
 over her. 
 
 " Your name ? " he asked. 
 
 " Princess Elizabeth. . . ." 
 
 " I conjure you, speak the truth," continued 
 Father Peter, trying to recollect the French 
 words. " Who were your parents, and where 
 were you born ? " 
 
 " I swear by the Almighty God that I do not 
 know," answered the captive, with a hollow 
 cough. " I knew and believed only what others 
 told, me." 
 
 She answered all the other questions in a voice 
 broken and so low as to be scarcely heard. She 
 touched lightly on her childhood, the South of 
 Russia, the village where she had lived, Siberia, 
 her flight to Persia, and her residence in Europe. 
 
 208 
 
"AT WHAT A MOMENT!" 209 
 
 " You are a Christian ? " asked the priest. 
 
 " I was baptized into the Russian faith, and 
 therefore look upon myself as belonging to the 
 Russian Church, although until now, for many 
 reasons, I have been deprived of the blessings 
 of Confession and Holy Communion. ... I 
 have sinned a great deal. Trying to tear myself 
 from my awful position, I gave my friendship to 
 people who only betrayed me. . . . Oh, how 
 thankful I am for your visit ! " 
 
 " Among your papers were found two wills. 
 . . . From whom did you receive them, and — hide 
 nothing from God and from me — by whom was 
 your Manifesto to the Russian fleet written ? ' 
 
 " All that was sent to me quite ready by per- 
 sons quite unknown to me," said the sick girl. 
 " I had secret friends who pitied me. They tried 
 to restore to me my lost rights." 
 
 "But what is this?" thought the bewildered 
 priest, listening to her. " Is all this fiction or 
 truth ? If this is deceit, my God, at what a 
 moment ! " 
 
 " You are on the borders of the grave," said he, 
 in a trembling voice ; " on the verge of eternity. 
 
 . . Repent. . . . Between us there is 
 only one witness — God." 
 
 The penitent struggled within herself. Her 
 
 p 
 
210 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 bosom rose and fell, and her hand convulsively 
 clutched her handkerchief and held it to her 
 lips. 
 
 " In expectation of God's judgment and my 
 near death," said she, turning her eyes to the 
 image of the Saviour, " I confess and swear that 
 all that I have told you and others is the truth. 
 1 know nothing more. . . ." 
 
 " But all this is impossible,'' said Father Peter, 
 in an agitated voice. " All that you have told me 
 is so very improbable." 
 
 The poor girl closed her eyes, as if from unen- 
 durable acute suffering. Large tears rolled down 
 her thin and faded cheeks. 
 
 " Who were your accomplices ? " asked the 
 priest, after a short pause. 
 
 " Oh, no one ! Have pity, have mercy ; . . . 
 and if I, weak, persecuted, without means. . . ." 
 
 The Princess did not finish. A hollow cough 
 shook her frame. She suddenly raised herself, 
 clutched at her breast, at the bed, and fell back, 
 apparently lifeless. 
 
 The fainting fit lasted several minutes. Father 
 Peter, thinking she was dying, began reading the 
 prayers. The sick girl came to herself. 
 
 "Do not agitate yourself; be calm," said the 
 priest, noticing she was coming to. 
 
ABSOLUTION. 211 
 
 " Oh, I cannot any more ! Leave me ! Go 
 away ! " murmured the sick girl. " Another time. 
 Let me rest." 
 
 " I have just christened your son," said the 
 priest, wishing to give her a little courage. " I 
 wish you joy for him. God is merciful ; you may 
 yet live for him. . . ." 
 
 A faint smile came on the poor parched lips 
 of the captive. Her eyes wandered aimlessly 
 around, as though seeing beyond that room, that 
 fortress, beyond everything surrounding her, far 
 away. 
 
 Father Peter blessed the poor girl, gazed at her 
 for some time, took the chalice, and having post- 
 poned the celebration of the Holy Communion, 
 left the room. 
 
 " Well ! what?" asked the commandant, who 
 was waiting for him in the corridor ; " has she 
 confessed, communicated ? " 
 
 The priest inclined his head, silently bowed to 
 the commandant, entered the carriage, and left 
 the Ravelin. 
 
 On the morning of the 2nd of December, he 
 was asked to come to the fortress, and to bring 
 the Elements of the Eucharist w 7 ith him. The 
 sick girl was fading rapidly. 
 
 " Think well, my daughter, and ease your soul, 
 
212 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 by repentance," exhorted the priest. " I conjure 
 you, iu the name of God, for the sake of the 
 future life ! " 
 
 " I am a sinner," answered the dying girl, in 
 a strangely quiet voice ; " from my very youth 
 I have sinned against God, and feel myself to be 
 a great impenitent sinner." 
 
 "I absolve thee from thy sins, my daughter," 
 said the priest, devoutly praying and blessing 
 her ; " but thy Pretendership, thy sins against 
 the empress, — thy accomplices ?" 
 
 " I am a Russian grand-duchess ! the daughter 
 of the late empress," faintly murmured the 
 captive, hardly moving her benumbed lips. The 
 priest bent over her to administer the Sacrament ; 
 but the captive lay motionless, almost lifeless. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 "WHAT IF TEE CAPTIVE BE INNOCENT/" 
 
 Father Peter returned home in a very agitated 
 frame of mind. " Is she a usurper ? " thought 
 he. "Of course, man will stick to anything in his 
 own interests. But dying — almost with her last 
 breath, after such terrible privations, almost tor- 
 ture ! What if she's innocent, not an adven- 
 turess ? remembers her childhood, repeats always 
 the same — of course, in all this, she is the only 
 witness. Is it her fault that her proofs are so 
 scanty, so insignificant ? " 
 
 The priest, on coming home, went straight to 
 his study. Having learnt that the girls were not 
 at home, he lighted his stove, shut the door, and 
 once more took the diary of Konsov in his hands. 
 Having again glanced over the manuscript, he 
 wrapped it in a sheet of paper, tied it round with 
 a string, sealed it, and wrote on the outside paper 
 — ■" To be opened only after my death." This 
 roll he put at the bottom of a trunk, where he 
 kept many precious documents and manuscripts. 
 
 213 
 
214 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 He had hardly shut the lid down, when a knock 
 was heard at the door. 
 
 "Who's there?" 
 
 " Friends !" and his niece entered with Rakitina. 
 
 " What is the matter with you, dear uncle, ' 
 asked Vara, looking at the priest; "you look 
 agitated — this is the second day you've been out 
 driving? 
 
 Irena looked at him inquiringly. " Perhaps he 
 has some news for me," thought she. 
 
 " About other people's business ; of no interest 
 to you, my dear; and you, Irena Lvovna, be 
 magnanimous and forgive me," continued the 
 priest, turning round to Rakitina. " Times are 
 troublous, it is now too dangerous to keep the 
 manuscripts you brought from home. I know 
 you will soon go away, but the village even is not 
 safe. You'll forgive an old man." 
 
 Irena turned pale. 
 
 " All sorts of rumours are floating about — 
 search may be made," continued Father Peter. 
 " Scold me, young lady, but your manuscript. 
 
 5) 
 
 "Where is it? oh, you've not burnt it?' 
 cried Irena, involuntarily glancing at the lighted 
 stove. 
 
 Father Peter silently bowed. 
 
THE SECRETS OF THE CONFESSION. 215 
 
 Irena clasped her hands. 
 
 " Oh ! my God ! " she cried, unable to keep 
 back her tears ; " the last consolation, the last 
 token of remembrance, and that is gone ! What 
 shall I carry away with me now ? " 
 
 Vara looked reproachfully at her uncle. 
 
 " Afterwards, dear young lady ; in time you 
 shall know everything, but now it is better to be 
 silent," said the priest in a decided voice. " God's 
 ways are not our ways. The enemy's path is full 
 of snares. Pray to God ; He will have mercy.' 1 
 
 But the priest was not to be left in peace. 
 That very day he was again called to the com- 
 mander-in-chief. 
 
 " Well, did you get anything from the cap- 
 tive ? " asked Galitzin. 
 
 " Excuse me, your Grace," answered Father 
 Peter, "but the secrets of the Confession. . . . 
 No ! I cannot, I dare not." 
 
 Galitzin became embarrassed. 
 
 " What a commission ! " thought Galitzin, blush- 
 ing. " Ah, those counsellors. . . . Orloff, 
 you can see, unable to rest, is again inventing 
 something at Moscow, and I — play the Inquisi- 
 tor. 
 
 " Well, Batiushka ! that's my orders from 
 
 hisfh 
 
 55 
 
216 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " I cannot, your Grace ; 'twould be against 
 my conscience." 
 
 Galitzin moved Lis lips, not finding a way out 
 of bis embarrassment. 
 
 " "Who is she ? " said he, trying to look very 
 important and determined. " Cannot you see this 
 is a State secret, a most important one. You see 
 I must send a report. There will be inquiries ; 
 I'm answerable for everything, for order. Here, 
 I ... I alone ! " 
 
 " One thing I may tell your Grace — while I am 
 alive, I'll keep the oath exacted by you." 
 
 The field-marshal was all ears. 
 
 " I'll not let one word fall of what I heard at 
 the Confession," continued Father Peter. " You 
 exacted from me an oath of silence, but I can 
 inform you of one thing, prince, although it is 
 my own personal opinion : the captive has been 
 much calumniated, a great deal has been invented, 
 and what if she. . . ." 
 
 " Oh ! speak, speak ! " said the field-marshal. 
 
 " What if the captive were innocent ? ' said the 
 priest ; " why should she suffer all that? ' 
 
 If a thunderbolt had fallen at the feet of the 
 prince, he could not have been more wonder- 
 struck. 
 
 " You assure me — do you mean to say, that she 
 
« T1 
 
 FLL SEE FOR MYSELF." 217 
 
 liad no accomplices ? " said he ; " that she was 
 no traitor ? But then, am I to understand that 
 she is our own truly born grand-duchess ! But 
 is it possible ? No, not for one minute can I 
 think it ! " 
 
 Father Peter, with his head bent down, was 
 silent. 
 
 " No ! you make a mistake, that's all a dream, 
 delirium," cried out the field-marshal, clutching 
 at the bell rope. " Horses ! " he called to the 
 orderly, who at once came in, "I'll try; time is 
 not yet quite lost. I'll see for myself." 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 BE LEASE. 
 
 " Oh ! I myself have sinned against her in my 
 reports," thought Galitzin, on his way to the 
 fortress. " I fell under the influence of others, 
 hastened on everything without judgment. I 
 grasped at the guessings and conjectures of 
 others ! " 
 
 The ice on the surface of the Xeva was still 
 under water, the remains of the previous day's 
 inundation. The prince's carriage drove on very 
 slowly, and with difficulty through the pools of 
 water. He did not find the commandant at home. 
 Ever since evening the latter had been in the 
 Ravelin. At the door stood Oushakoff: with 
 papers in his hand. He walked up to the prince, 
 and was beo-innino- — 
 
 " As your Grace knows, the expenses for this 
 person. 
 
 " Lead me to the captive," said the prince, 
 addressing the officer on guard, and turning his 
 back on Oushakoff. " Umph ! found occupation ! 
 
 218 
 
THE END NEAR. 219 
 
 — And our sick captive ? Is she still con- 
 scious ? " 
 
 " She is dying," answered the officer. 
 
 Galitzin devoutly crossed himself. 
 
 On entering the Ravelin, he met Tchernishoff. 
 The prince did not recognise him. The brave, 
 fine, spruce officer, Tchernishoff, who was never 
 once in his life embarrassed by his service, was 
 now quite bewildered and pale as death. 
 
 "Poor thins: ! " murmured the field-marshal, 
 following Tchernishoff. " Can it be that she will 
 die ? Has the doctor been ? " 
 
 " He has not left her since evening ; the agony 
 has already begun, she is quite unconscious. She 
 
 is raving \ 
 
 a 
 
 ! » 
 
 What does she rave about ? Speak, speak ! ' 
 and the agitated prince leant forward to Tcher- 
 nishoff. " Were you there? Did you hear her 
 
 ravings ? ' 
 
 " I went in several times," answered the com- 
 mandant. " I only heard some unintelligible 
 words, amongst them Orloff . . . Princess . . . 
 Gran Dio . . . Mio caro . . ." 
 
 " And the child ? " asked the prince, dashing 
 away a tear. 
 
 " Is well, your Grace, in the hands of a wet 
 nurse. My wife found a very good one." 
 
220 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " See that everything necessary is found — 
 everything. Do you hear me, sir ? everything,' : 
 said the prince very seriously and impressively, 
 trying to give his voice a most imperious and 
 commanding tone. "In a Christian manner, do 
 you understand ? ... In case, here . . . 
 in secret . . . you understand me ? without any 
 fuss . . . suffering humanity ... a martyr.' 1 
 
 The prince wanted to say something more, but 
 could only sob. Tears were choking him. He 
 merely nodded, and, pulling himself together as 
 well as he could, he briskly walked out on the 
 perron. Here he glanced at the dismal grey sky, 
 covered with big heavy clouds. A whole flight 
 of ravens was whirling round over the Ravelin. 
 The iron leaves 1 of the roof, half torn away by 
 the storm, were creaking dismally. The field- 
 marshal drew his sable collar close round him, 
 jumped into his carriage, and shouted, ''Home ! ' 
 
 " Cod has had pity on her, poor thing ; in past 
 years, how often these small casemates have been 
 flooded during the inundations. Yes, of course, 
 it's quite clear," he went on musing. " The un- 
 fortunate girl has only been a toy in the hands of 
 
 1 In Russia the roofs of all Government buildings and of 
 substantial houses are made of iron sheets painted dark red 
 or bright green. 
 
DEATH OF THE PRINCESS. 221 
 
 others. A usurper or not, who can tell ? That's 
 just what I shall write to Her Imperal Highness 
 — her death will not be on our heads." 
 
 The carriage rolled along quickly over the 
 newly-fallen snow, now passing carts loaded with 
 wood or hay, now an elegant carriage, or a 
 pedestrian feeling his way carefully through the 
 pools and the snow, — those very same houses, 
 churches, the same bridges, ensigns, that the 
 prince had looked at for so many years, rushed 
 past unnoticed by the now anxious and gloomy 
 commander-in-chief of the northern capital. 
 Then came the Police Department, at the Green 
 Bridge over the Nevski, and at last the apartment 
 of the field-marshal. His heart was very heavy. 
 
 " Well ! and if, after all, she's no pretender," 
 flashed through the mind of the prince, as he 
 saw the Elizabeth Palace rising in the gloom, 
 near the bridge on the Mo'ika, and a little farther 
 on, on the Nevski, the Anitchkoff Hall, the resi- 
 dence of Razoumovski. 
 
 Galitzin remembered now all the late reign, 
 
 the great of that time, his connections, his own 
 
 youthful years, and the years and persons that 
 
 time had carried away. 
 
 ***** 
 
 On the evening of 4th of December, 177o, the 
 
222 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 Princess Tarakanova, Dame d'Azow, Ali Emete, 
 and Princess Wladimirskaya, expired. No one 
 was present at her last moments ; she was found 
 lying still, as though she had fallen asleep. Her 
 dim open eyes were fixed on the image of the 
 Saviour. On the next day the invalid watch of 
 the garrison of the Petropavlovski fortress dug 
 a grave, with the help of crow-bars 1 and spades, 
 in the middle of the little yard in the Ravelin 
 of Alexeef, under the shade of the lindens. And 
 there, secretly from all, they buried the body of 
 the unfortunate girl, filling the grave up with 
 clods of frozen earth. The invalid watchman, 
 Antipitch, on his own initiative, planted a birch 
 tree over that grave. The servitors of the Prin- 
 cess, her maid Meshade, and secretary Charnomski, 
 as the inquest now was terminated, were sent 
 away to foreign parts, after having been sworn 
 to secrecy. 
 
 Father Peter guessed at the death of the captive, 
 from the tears and insinuations of the command- 
 antsha, and said to himself, " Oh, God ! Thou 
 hast at last delivered the poor unfortunate captive 
 from her burden, and given rest to her soul." 
 And, without any fuss or noise, went immedi- 
 
 1 These are always used instead of picks, as the ground 
 here is sometimes frozen more than a yard deep. 
 
GALITZIN'S REPORT. 223 
 
 ately to the church and celebrated a funeral 
 mass, for the fallen asleep bond-slave of God, 
 Elizabeth ; and at the oblation, remembering her 
 soul, cut a small piece from the consecrated loaf. 
 
 " For whom did you have that funeral mass ? ' 
 asked Vara of her uncle, noticing the loaf on the 
 breakfast table. 
 
 " For that person you know of, that poor 
 sufferer." 
 
 " But who was she ? " 
 
 " A slave, and child of a bond-slave," mysteri- 
 ously answered Father Peter. " We are all in the 
 hands of God, the rich and the poor, the slaves 
 
 and the kings." 
 
 ***** 
 
 The Field-Marshal Galitzin was unable for a 
 long: time to decide on the means of letting the 
 empress know of the death of Tarakanova. He 
 would take a pen, write a few lines, dash them 
 out, and again begin thinking. 
 
 "Ah! come what may," said he to himself, 
 " the dead will not be called to account, and for 
 the living, it's a vindication." 
 
 The prince took out a clean sheet of paper, 
 dipped his pen in the ink, and began very care- 
 fully to trace, in an old-fashioned hand", the 
 following words : — 
 
'224 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " The person so well known to your Imperial 
 Highness as having usurped a name and rank 
 not belonging to her, died on the 4th of Decem- 
 ber, an unrepentant sinner, having confessed to 
 nothing and betrayed no one." 
 
 " And if any of the great should learn anything 
 about her, and let it out," thought Galitzin to 
 himself, " we can set rumours afloat that she was 
 drowned in the inundation. Just at that very 
 time, they fired enough cannon from the fortress, 
 and the lovely Neva played her pranks." 
 
 And this is the origin of the legend of the 
 
 drowning of Tarakanova. 1 
 
 # * * * * 
 
 Irena Lvovna Rakitina, after having gone about 
 from department to department, was at last con- 
 vinced of the hopelessness of her case, and re- 
 turned to her native village accompanied by Vara. 
 This was in December, 1775. In Moscow, she 
 tried to give a personal petition to the empress, 
 but this was just the day before the departure of 
 Ekaterina for Petersburg. The petition of Irena 
 was graciously accepted; but somehow Yery 
 likely, in the confusion dependent on the depar- 
 ture of the Court, — it got lost and was forgotten, 
 as she never received any answer or resolution. 
 
 1 See Frontispiece. 
 
I REN A ENTERS A CONVENT. 225 
 
 Irena, while at Moscow, determined to find out 
 Orloff, but afterward was dissuaded from her 
 purpose. 
 
 On her arrival in Petersburg, the empress 
 most assiduously questioned Galitzin about the 
 last days of the captive ; and notwithstanding all 
 the endeavours of the old man to soften his 
 tale, she understood what an awful tragedy 
 had overtaken the blind victim of foreign in- 
 trigue. 
 
 " Yes ; you and I, prince, have also ' oversalted ' 
 
 it!" said Ekaterina. " Why not more frankness 
 
 with me ? " 
 
 ***** 
 
 "I am the cause of everything," decided Irena, 
 after long hours of doubt and anguish. " I was 
 the cause of Konsov's leaving his native land. 
 It was on my account he gave way to despair, 
 and tried to help that unfortunate person, and 
 then perished. I must make amends now for his 
 broken life, and implore God to forgive me my 
 share of sins in all this unhappy affair. I am 
 now alone, and have nothing to expect from the 
 world." 
 
 In 1776, Rakitian left her estate in the hands 
 of her father's serfs, and accompanied by Yara 
 (who had that year become engaged to one of the 
 
 Q 
 
226 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 teachers of the Muscovite Seminary), started for 
 a small nunnery not far from KiefF, and entered 
 it as a novice, hoping soon to be able to take the 
 veil. However much Vara implored her, or tried 
 to convince her, to dissuade her from taking such 
 a step, Irena was firm, and having put on the 
 hood and nun's dress, repeated only one thing — 
 " I am the cause of all, and therefore must pray 
 for him, and suffer all my life." But Irena could 
 not give up all her thoughts to prayer, however 
 much she wished to. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 "A EOSE AND A MYRTLE." 
 
 Five years passed by, and in May, 1780, Eaki- 
 tina was again in Petersburg. Her friend Vara 
 was already married and in Moscow. Father 
 Peter was, as before, priest of the Cathedral of 
 Kazan. Irena went to see him. He was de- 
 lighted and eagerly began to ask her about past 
 and present events. 
 
 " Is it possible that you are even till now 
 waiting and hoping that your fiance is yet alive ? " 
 lie asked. " For how many years you are use- 
 lessly tormenting yourself ! Were he alive, be 
 sure he would have sent some message — I do not 
 say to you — to his friends, to his relations." 
 
 "Oh! don't, don't, Father," answered Irena, 
 drying her eyes ; "I will give up all, sacrifice 
 everything. . . ." 
 
 " Young lady, that is a sin ; you are tempting 
 
 Providence, you are imitating the heathens." 
 
 " But what can I do ? ' answered Irena; " I 
 am always seeing such awful prophetic dreams, 
 
 :27 
 
228 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 one especially. Oh! that dream; it came to me 
 not long ago, several nights together." . . . 
 Irena was silent. 
 
 " What dream was it ? Tell me all ; confide 
 in me." 
 
 " It seemed to me that he approached my bed- 
 side — he was not a bit altered — just as he was 
 the last time I saw him in our village, stately, 
 handsome, amiable ; and he said to me, ' I am 
 still alive, Irenushka. Where the sea murmurs, 
 night and day, I look for you, morning and 
 evening, thinking perhaps you'll come, find me, 
 and set me free.' ... Ah ! tell me, where must 
 I look, what must I do, whom must I ask ? I 
 dare not trouble the empress another time. . . ." 
 
 " I often thought of you," said Father Peter. 
 " Here I only see one person, and that is — the 
 Tzarevitch, Pavel Petrovitch ; 1 he is Grand- 
 Master and Protector of the Order of Maltese 
 Knights — he alone can help you. If he will only 
 stoop to you, to your petition, he alone can do 
 something for you. In him you'll find everything 
 — talent, honour, always used in the interest of 
 anything high and noble, secret relations with all 
 the most powerful and celebrated philanthropists. 
 
 1 The heir-apparent, son of Ekaterina, afterwards ascended 
 the throne as Pavel I. 
 
IRENA'S VISION. 229 
 
 And what goodness, what knightly nobility ! No ; 
 it is not Tiberius, as his enemies say ; it's the 
 future beneficent Titus." 
 
 " Yes, I have heard that," answered Irena. 
 
 "You have heard? then go to him, find him 
 at his manor house, seek for an audience." 
 
 The priest gave Irena all possible information 
 and advice, as well as a letter to his god-daughter, 
 housekeeper in the household of the Tzarevitch. 
 Rakitina hired a hibitka 1 and started for Pavlovski, 
 the personal property of the grand-duke. 
 
 The housekeeper received Rakitina very hos- 
 pitably. She took her into her own apartment, 
 and then, to amuse her a little, pointed out to her 
 all the curiosities in the garden and park of the 
 grand-duke ; the little cottage Cric-Crac, the hut 
 of the hermit, the caverns, lakes, and rustic 
 bridges. It was decided that Irena should first 
 relate everything to the favourite maid of honour 
 of the grand-duchess, Ekaterina Ivanovna Neli-* 
 dova, who had only just terminated her education 
 at Smolney Institute. 3 
 
 1 A hooded sledge, lined with furs, and with large fur- 
 curtains and panes of glass let in. It is used for long winter 
 journeys. 
 
 2 A school in St. Petersburg for the daughters of the 
 nobility, endowed by Ekaterina II. 
 
230 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " When shall we go to see Ekaterina Ivan- 
 ovna ? " said Irena, longing for the promised 
 audience. 
 
 " We shall have to wait ; she is very much 
 occupied now, learning a hymn on the clavichord. 
 It's the favourite piece of the grand-duke ; she 
 is getting it ready for the concert." 
 
 One day Irena was walking in the park with 
 her hostess. All at once from behind the trees, 
 a fair lady in a light blue silk dress, without any 
 hoops, came towards them. 
 
 " Who is that ? " asked Irena. 
 
 " The Tzarevna," whispered the housekeeper, 
 bowing very respectfully. 
 
 Irena turned faint. 
 
 The elegant, though a little inclined to embon- 
 point, Grand Duchess Marie Feodorovna was then 
 twenty-two, and very lovely. 
 
 In passing by Irena, she turned her rather 
 bewildered and short-sighted eyes upon her, as 
 though astonished at her nun's dress. The Tzar- 
 evna was followed by a very tall, thin, pock- 
 marked man in a dark kaftan and cocked hat, 
 carrying a roll of music and a fiddle under his 
 arm. 
 
 " And who is that ? " asked Rakitina, when 
 they had gone by. 
 
THE GRAND DUCHESS MARIE FEODOROVNA. 231 
 
 " Paezsillo," answered the housekeeper; 
 " music master to her Imperial Highness." 
 
 Irena admired the rare beauty of the Tzarevna, 
 the delicate pink and white complexion, the 
 splendid golden hair, in which nestled some blue 
 and red flowers, contained in a tiny bottle of 
 water to keep them fresh. 
 
 The Tzarevna was followed at some distance 
 by two maids of honour. One of them, a short, 
 thin, sprightly brunette, struck Irena by the 
 brightness of her black, sparkling eyes, which 
 literally seemed to shoot forth sparks. She was 
 gaily talking with her companion. It was Neli- 
 dova. Mischievously winking at the stout house- 
 keeper, who was respectfully bowing to her, she 
 said to her with a charming smile, "I've had no 
 time yet, Anna Romanovna, — always that hymn; 
 to-morrow morning." 
 
 " Ah ! at last, to-morrow," thought Irena, in 
 ecstasy, and following with enraptured eyes the 
 enchanting, elegant fairies, who so unexpectedly 
 had passed before her eyes. At the appointed 
 hour, Anna Romanovna took Irena to the 
 pavilion of the maids of honour, not far from 
 the guard-house, and led her into the drawing- 
 room. 
 
 { ' It would seem that Ekaterina Ivanovna has 
 
10-) 
 
 -^ PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 not yet returned from the palace of the grand- 
 duchess," she said; we will wait for her here, 
 my dear ; take off your hood, it's too warm." 
 
 " It does not matter ; I'll leave it." 
 
 The room was filled with vases, statuettes, and 
 medallions hung on the walls. 
 
 " This is all the work of the grand-duchess," 
 said the housekeeper. " Look here, dear, 
 what talent ! how she paints on porcelain ! 
 And look here, in this black cupboard, these 
 ivory things, that's her work. She can engrave 
 also on stones, on gold, lovely pay sages ; she can 
 also turn on the lathe, and how fond she is 
 of Ekaterina Ivanovna ! those are all presents 
 to her. Look, she embroidered this beautiful 
 cushion for her. Look, what a rose ! and this 
 myrtle ! What a delicate design, and the colours, 
 you might mistake it for a painting. 
 
 Irena gave no answer. 
 
 " Why are you so silent, my dear ? What are 
 you thinking about ? " 
 
 " A rose and a myrtle," whispered Irena, sigh- 
 ing ; " life and death. What will be the end of 
 all my efforts, my researches, my hopes ? ' 
 
 At that very minute, the notes of the clavi- 
 chord were heard from the room of Nelidova. A 
 melodious splendid contralto was singing the 
 
THE ROSE AND THE MYRTLE. 233 
 
 very solemn and sad hymn from Gliick's opera, 
 " Iphigenia in Tauridus." 
 
 " Well, Irena Lvovna, let us go ; I suppose 
 we are too late. Ekaterina Ivanovna is at her 
 music, and no one will dare disturb her. Yery 
 likely the grand-duchess is with her now.' 1 
 
 Irena made a sign to her companion to wait a 
 little, and with a beating heart she listened to 
 the so well known notes of: the imploring hymn 
 of " Iphigenia." In past days she had herself 
 sung that to Konsov. " Oh ! if I could only 
 implore them like that ; but when will that be ? 
 They have their own cares, they have no time," 
 thought she, feeling that her tears were choking 
 her. 
 
 " Let us go, let us go," said Anna Romanovna, 
 hastily. They both went out together, went 
 down the steps, round the pavilion of the maids 
 of honour, and into the garden. The wicket- 
 gate banged to. 
 
 "Where are you off to ? " they heard a voice 
 gaily calling out. 
 
 They both raised their eyes. Looking at them 
 from the open window was the smiling face of the 
 black-eyed Nelidova. 
 
 " Come in ; I'm quite free now. I was waiting 
 for you, and so began to sing. Come in.' : 
 
234 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 The visitors retraced their steps. 
 
 Anna Romanovna presented her companion to 
 Nelidova, who made her sit down beside her. 
 
 " So young, and yet in such a gloomy dress," 
 she said ; " speak now, without any ceremony, 
 tell me all, I am listening." 
 
 Irena began about Konsov, then went on to 
 the arrest and captivity of Tarakanova. At each 
 of her words, at each detail of the sad event, the 
 bright playful face of Nelidova became more and 
 more troubled and sad. 
 
 " Great God ! what mysteries, what tragedies ! ' 
 thought she, shivering; " and all that in our 
 days. But it's the dark middle ages over again, 
 and no one knowing anything of it." 
 
 " Thank you, Mademoiselle Irena," said 
 Ekaterina Ivanovna, after having listened atten- 
 tively to Rakitina. " I am very much obliged to 
 you for all you have related to me ; if you will 
 allow me, I will tell it all again to their Imperial 
 Highnesses. ... I am convinced that the 
 Tzarevitch, that wise just knight, that angel of 
 goodness and honour . . . will do everything 
 for you. But to whom must he apply ? " 
 
 " How ! to whom?" asked the astonished 
 Irena. 
 
 " You see, I do not know very well how to 
 
NELIDOVA S SUGGESTION. 
 
 -JO 
 
 explain it," continued Nelidova ; " the Tzarevitch 
 takes no part in State affairs, lie can only ask 
 others. On whom does all this depend ? ' 
 
 " The Prince Potemkin might ..." answered 
 Irena, remembering the counsels of Father Peter, 
 that the Prince could send orders to the differ- 
 ent ambassadors and consuls. " Lieutenant 
 Konsov is perhaps now a prisoner of the Moors 
 or negroes, on some wild island in the Atlantic 
 Ocean." 
 
 " Will you remain long here ? ' asked Neli- 
 dova. 
 
 " The Mother Superior of the Nunnery where 
 I live has been summoning me to return this 
 long while. Every one blames me ; calls my 
 researches sinful." 
 
 " How and where can I send vou a message ? ' 
 
 Irena named the convent, and then became 
 thoughtful, looking at the cushion worked by the 
 grand-duchess. 
 
 "I've suffered so much, I've waited so long," 
 she murmured, stifling her tears. " Do not write 
 anything — not one word — but, see, send me, 
 should there be success, a rose; if failure, a 
 myrtle leaf." 
 
 Nelidova kissed Irena. 
 
 "I will do everything I can," she said gently. 
 
236 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 " I will appeal to the grand-duchess, to the 
 Tzarevitcb. There remains nothing more for 
 you to do here. Better leave, my dear one ; 
 as soon as I learn anything, I will let you 
 know." 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 PAVEL PETROVITCH AND THE ENCHANTER. 
 
 There was still no news. It was the beginning 
 of the year 1781. AVith the retirement of Prince 
 Gregory Orloff, and the fallen fortunes of the 
 tutor of the Tzarevitch, Panin, the new coun- 
 sellors of the Empress Ekaterina, having in view 
 the lessening of the influence of her son, Pavel 
 Petrovitch, advised her to send the Tzarevitch and 
 his wife on a long foreign journey, ostensibly 
 to make the acquaintance of foreign courts. 
 
 Irena learnt this with a beating heart from 
 Vara's letter. Their Imperial Highnesses left 
 the environs of Petersburg on the 19th of Sep- 
 tember, 1781. Under the name of Count and 
 Countess " du Nord," they passed the Russian 
 frontier of Poland, at the little town of Ukraine, 
 Vasilkoff, in the middle of October. 
 
 A young person, dressed in the dark vestments 
 of a nun, who arrived the day before by the 
 Kieff track, 1 was waiting here to meet Nelidova. 
 
 1 That is, the high road from Kieff. 
 
 237 
 
238 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 She was taken into the apartment of Ekaterina 
 Ivanovna. Into this room there entered also, 
 from the garden, the Count and Countess du 
 Nord, as if by accident, whilst the horses were 
 being changed. They remained several minutes, 
 and when they came out, the count was fearfully 
 pale, and the countess in tears. 
 
 " Poor Penelope," said Pavel to Nelidova, 
 getting into the carriage, on observing through 
 the trees the dark figure of Irena. 
 
 The conversation of Ekaterina Ivanovna with 
 the stranger after the departure of the august 
 travellers was so prolonged that the carriage of 
 the maid of honour was much behindhand, accord- 
 ing to the marche-route, and the horses had to be 
 cruelly driven to catch up the Imperial carriages. 
 
 "A rose, a rose! Not myrtle! 3 cried out 
 Nelidova in French, — very mysteriously to all 
 around, — to the stranger, to whom she waved her 
 handkerchief from the carriage window, by way 
 of encouragement. 
 
 " She is truly a sorrowing Penelope," said 
 Ekaterina Ivanovna, as, driving away, she lost 
 sight in the distance of the dark motionless 
 figure of Irena. 
 
 The journey of the Count and Countess du 
 Nord was very interesting. They travelled 
 
THE TZAREVITCH AT VENICE. 239 
 
 through all Germany, and spent the New Year 
 in Venice. The 8th of January, 1780, the grand- 
 duke, Pavel Petrovitch, wrapped in the pic- 
 turesque Italian cloak Tabaro, and the grand- 
 duchess, in the graceful Venetian mantilla and 
 the Cendadi, visited the picture gallery and the 
 palace of the Doge in the morning, and in the even- 
 ing went to the theatre of the " Prophet Samuel," 
 where " Iphigenia in Tauridus," was to be played 
 in honour of the august visitors, as it was known 
 to be their favourite opera. The celebrated 
 composer Grliick himself conducted the orchestra. 
 
 After the opera, the public poured out, and 
 crowded the square of St. Mark, where a national 
 masquerade had been organised in honour of the 
 Imperial travellers. 
 
 The square was covered with a noisy, vivacious 
 crowd. Every one noticed that the Count du Nord, 
 after having led the Countess straight from the 
 theatre to the palace which had been prepared 
 for them, was walking, wearing a mask, up and 
 down, a little out of the way of the crowd, with 
 a very tall foreigner, also masked, whom Gliick 
 himself had presented to him at the opera. 
 
 The full moon shed her silvery light, and all 
 around there were many coloured fires and lamps. 
 The noise and chattering of the mixed crowd 
 
240 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 failed to attract the attention of the two inter- 
 locutors. 
 
 "Who is that?" asked a lady of her husband, 
 turning his attention to the fact that the Count 
 du Nord was attentively listening to the conver- 
 sation of the foreigner by his side. " Don't you 
 know him again — the friend of Gluck — our cele- 
 brated necromancer, our raiser of ghosts ? " 
 
 Pavel was very much agitated, and in a bad 
 humour. He had wanted to make fun of the 
 stranger, but the recollection of a certain fact had 
 involuntarily embarrassed him. 
 
 " You, Enchanter, living, according to your 
 own words, an innumerable number of years," 
 said he, very politely, although in a slightly 
 mocking tone ; " you are in connection not only 
 with the living, but with those beyond the tomb. 
 That is, doubtless, one of your jokes, and I, of 
 course, do not believe one word of it," he added, 
 trying to be very amiable ; " it would be silly to 
 believe such tales. But there are tales and tales, 
 you understand me ? . . . I should very much 
 like to question you concerning a certain incident. 
 
 ?5 
 
 " I am at your orders," said the stranger. 
 " For instance, — and this is quite a conversa- 
 tion apropos ," continued the Count du Word ; " I 
 
THE TZAREVITCH'S VISION. 241 
 
 have always been very much interested in the 
 supernatural, especially in the inexplicable inter- 
 ference of supernatural agents in our intellectual 
 life. I should very much like ... I would 
 ask you, as we have met so unexpectedly, to 
 explain to me one very mysterious event, a very 
 strange meeting. . . ." 
 
 " I am quite at your service," answered the 
 stranger, politely bowing. 
 
 His companion walked on a few steps silently. 
 
 Pavel struggled within himself, trying to trip 
 up the conjurer, and at the same time to stifle 
 in his own heart something very sad, torturing, 
 which was perhaps one of his mental tribulations. 
 Raising his mask, he wiped his brow. 
 
 " I once saw a spirit," he said, hesitatingly, 
 unable to restrain his emotion ; " I saw a shadow, 
 sacred to me . . ." 
 
 The stranger bowed slightly, following Pavel, 
 who turned the corner of the square to the 
 dimly-lighted river side. 
 
 "It was in Petersburg," again began the 
 count. He then related to his companion the 
 celebrated fact, already made known somehow 
 abroad, of his having seen the spirit of his 
 ancestor: how, on a certain moonlight night, 
 walking along the streets with his aide-de-camp, 
 
 R 
 
242 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 he had felt that between him and the wall of the 
 house on the left side there rose all at once 
 something in a long cloak and old-fashioned 
 cocked hat — how he had "felt 9 that apparition, 
 by the icy cold which had frozen his left side, and 
 with what horror he had followed step by step 
 the apparition, which noisily struck the pavement 
 — it was the noise of stone against stone. 
 
 The apparition, invisible to the aide-de-camp, 
 had addressed Pavel in a sad, reproachful voice : 
 " Pavel, poor Pavel, poor prince, do not love the 
 world too much ; you will not remain long in it ; 
 fear the reproaches of thy conscience ; live by the 
 laws of justice . . . in life 
 
 " The apparition did not finish," said the 
 count. " I still did not understand what it was. 
 At last I looked up and turned giddy ; before me, 
 in the full moonlight, stood my grandfather, 
 Peter the Great, just as I remembered him. I 
 recognised directly his caressing look of love, 
 fixed on me. I wanted to ask him . . . but 
 he disappeared, and I remained leaning against 
 the bare, cold w r all." Saying these last words, 
 Pavel again raised his mask, and wiped his face 
 with his handkerchief; he was pale and very 
 much embarrassed. It seemed as though before 
 his eyes there again rose, the dear, sad apparition. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIY. 
 
 A MYRTLE LEAF. 
 
 " What do you think, Signor?" asked the count, 
 after a short pause. " Was it a dream, or did I 
 really see the spirit of my grandfather ? " 
 
 " It was his spirit," answered his companion. 
 
 " What did his words mean, and why did he 
 not finish them ? " 
 
 " Would you like to know ? ' 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 " Some one disturbed him." 
 
 " But who ?" asked Pavel, continuing to walk 
 alongr the deserted river side. 
 
 " The apparition disappeared at my approach. 
 I was just leaving at that time your banker, 
 Sutherland. You did not notice me, but I saw 
 you both, and I involuntarily startled the appari- 
 tion of the great man." 
 
 The count stopped ; he was amuse il, and at the 
 
 same time indignant at the impudence of the 
 
 magician, and yet there remained something more 
 
 to be learnt. 
 
 243 
 
244 PRIiYCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 "You are joking," said he. "How is it you 
 were in Petersburg, and no one heard anything 
 of it?" 
 
 "I had that pleasure — but for a very short 
 time. I was received in a very unfriendly 
 manner. As a foreigner, and one fond of know- 
 ledge, I had expected to obtain more attention. 
 But the first minister offended me deeply ; he 
 invited me to leave the country. I withdrew my 
 money from the bankers, and that very same 
 night left Petersburg. " 
 
 " Pool, jackanapes ! " thought the count, con- 
 temptuously smiling ; " what inventions, what 
 yarns he can spin." 
 
 " Allow me to offer my apologies for the rude- 
 ness of our ministers," said the count, with the 
 most elaborate politeness, slightly touching his 
 hat with his hand. " But can you explain to me 
 the meaning of the words of the apparition ? ' 
 
 " It would be better not to seek to know 
 the meaning of the apparition," answered the 
 stranger. " There are things ... on which 
 it is better to let the Pates be silent. 
 
 At that moment the sounds of a lute came 
 floating from the great lagoon. Some one seated 
 in a gondola was singing. Pavel eagerly listened; 
 it was his favourite hymn. It brought back 
 
PAVEL AND THE ENCHANTER. 245 
 
 to his recollection the Manor of Pavlovski, the 
 musical mornings at Nelidova's, and her interces- 
 sion for Rakitina. 
 
 "Very well," said lie; let it be so; the future 
 will reveal the truth. But I have another favour 
 to ask of you. ... A certain person, whom 
 I wish from my whole heart to help at any cost, 
 would very much like to know one thing." 
 
 " I shall bo most happy," answered the stran- 
 ger; " if I can be of any use to your Highness." 
 
 "A certain person," continued the count, 
 " begged me to make inquiries here in Italy, in 
 Spain, and in general, of seamen, if: a certain 
 naval officer is still living. He was on that ship 
 which was totally shipwrecked, five years ago, 
 and of which literally nothing has been heard." 
 
 44 A Russian ship ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 44 It was carried away, and dashed to pieces by 
 the storm in the ocean, not far from Africa ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 44 The Northern Eagle ? " 
 
 44 Yes, but how came you to know ? " 
 
 44 It's not in vain I'm called an Enchanter." 
 
 44 Speak ! make haste, was he saved ? is he still 
 alive, this officer ? " said the count, impatiently. 
 
 At that moment they were both standing on the 
 
246 PRINCESS TAR AK AN OVA. 
 
 water side. The silvery waves gently rippled up 
 to the stone steps. In the distance, in the dim 
 twilight, the outline of a ship with her sails 
 furled was just discernible. 
 
 " To-morrow," said the stranger, " I leave 
 Venice on that schooner; but before sailing, or 
 answering your question, I should like — excuse 
 me — to know . . . whether the Count du 
 Nord, on ascending the throne, will be more 
 indulgent to me than the ministers of his august 
 parent ? Will he allow me then to visit that 
 country again, whatever the tenor of my answer 
 concerning that naval officer ? " 
 
 The deep agitation which ravel had experi- 
 enced, on relating his adventure with the appari- 
 tion, had already subsided, and he was regaining 
 his self-composure. The question of the man 
 aroused his indignation. 
 
 " Impudent, audacious impostor," thought he, 
 in a fit of suspicious anger. " What insolence ! 
 and what a turn he has given to the conversa- 
 tion. Street acrobat ! charlatan ! 
 
 Pavel could scarcely contain himself, and 
 crushed his glove in his hand. 
 
 "According to your own words it is rather dif- 
 ficult to answer for the future," said he thought- 
 fully, after a short pause. " Nevertheless, I am 
 
A MYRTLE LEAF. 247 
 
 convinced, that on a second journey to Russia, 
 you will meet with a reception more polite and 
 more befitting a foreigner. 
 
 His interlocutor bowed profoundly. 
 
 " So you wish to know the fate of that naval 
 officer? " he said. 
 
 " Yes," answered Pavel, prepared, however, to 
 hear some tomfoolery, some imposture. 
 
 kC Send that certain person awaiting your news 
 a myrtle leaf." 
 
 "How? what did you say? Say it again," 
 cried ont Pavel. "Myrtle! myrtle? then he is 
 lost 
 
 " He was saved on a fragment of the ship 
 near the island of Teneriffe, and for some time 
 remained with the poor monks of the coast." 
 
 " And now ? oh ! speak, I implore you." 
 
 " A year after he was killed by pirates, who 
 pillaged the monastery where he was living." 
 
 " How did you learn all this? " 
 
 " At that time I was myself living on the isle 
 of Teneriffe," he answered. " I was copying an 
 old Latin manuscript, which was very precious to 
 me, from the archives of the monastery." 
 
 " But what does all this mean ? Is he only a 
 juggler, or an all-powerful seer?' thought Pavel, 
 torn with doubts. " A clever diviner, or a bold 
 
243 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 charlatan, but from where? . . ... All my most 
 secret . . . coast of Africa . . . the 
 name of the lost ship . . . and then that 
 token, the fatal myrtle. Is it possible Ekaterina 
 Ivanovna should have betrayed me ? But he 
 never saw her ; she is ill, has never been once 
 out of her room, received no visits, and has been 
 nowhere. . 
 
 Pavel wanted to say something else, but could 
 find no words. 
 
 Beyond the schooner the dawn was breaking. 
 
 " I will accompany your Highness to the 
 palace," said the stranger with elaborate polite- 
 ness and a cringiug bow; "have I your per- 
 mission ? " 
 
 Pavel slightly glanced at the tawdry cotton- 
 velvet bespangled costume of the wizard, looking 
 so shabby in the morning light, and taking oft 
 his mask, without saying one word more, strode 
 gloomily and proudly along the deserted shore. 
 
 " Poor sorrowing Penelope ! unfortunate lovely 
 Irena ! " thought he. "No one has been able to 
 solve that anomishful enknna — neither ministers, 
 nor knights, nor ambassadors ; let us send her 
 the myrtle leaf of the Italian wizard and juggler." 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER. 
 
 Fifteen years had passed away; the year 1706 
 was drawing to its end. It was in the beginning: 
 of the reigm of Pavel I. All Petersburg was hail- 
 ing joyfully the liberation of the celebrated Novi- 
 koff from the fortress, and the return from Siberia 
 of Radischeff. The emperor, with his august 
 consort and several courtiers, went to visit the 
 fortress of Petropavlovski. The chief of the 
 police, Arharoff, asked the emperor if ho would 
 not like to visit the Ravelin of Alexeef, where 
 great alterations and repairs were taking place. 
 One of the dungeons attracted the attention of 
 the Imperial visitors. 
 
 "Were any Italians ever confined here?" 
 asked the emperor of the commandant. 
 
 " Never, your Highness; only schismatics." 
 
 "Well, look here," and the Emperor pointed to 
 the window, " here's an inscription on the glass, 
 cut with a diamond. ' 0, Dio mio.' " 
 
 Arharoff and the commandant both bent to- 
 wards the window eagerly. The commandant 
 
 249 
 
250 PRINCESS TARAKANOVA. 
 
 was new, and therefore had not yet had time to 
 become acquainted with all the legends and past 
 days of the fortress. 
 
 " It would be very interesting to know," said 
 the Empress Marie Feodorovna. " It's a woman's 
 hand. Poor thing, who could it have been ? " 
 
 "Was it not Tarakanova ? " said Nelidova, 
 standing by. " Have you forgotten, your High- 
 ness, the unfortunate Konsov, and the young 
 lady from Little Russia ? " 
 
 " Tarakanova was drowned here at the time of 
 the inundation," said somebody. 
 
 Every one was silent; the Empress Marie 
 Feodorovna alone looked at Nelidova, and pointed 
 with her eyes out of the window at a solitary 
 silver birch tree, growing in the middle of the 
 little neglected garden of the Ilavelin. 
 
 " That's her grave," she whispered. " Do you 
 remember? But what can have become of the 
 diary ? " 
 
 It was plain that the emperor had heard the 
 words. As he took his seat in the carriage, he 
 remarked to ArharofT, " At whatever cost this 
 affair must be looked into; a most painful event 
 here took place. They were troublous times ; 
 the attempt of Merovitch, the insurrection of 
 Pougachoff, and then . . . this unfortunate 
 I saw my mother's tears ; to her very 
 
THE SEARCH FOR THE MANUSCRIPT. 251 
 
 last days she could not forgive herself for allow- 
 ing the poor girl to be interrogated during her 
 absence from Petersburg." 
 
 The police were all set on foot. 
 
 Somewhere in an almshouse they discovered 
 the poor blind invalid, Antipitch. He had been 
 watchman in the fortress twenty years before. 
 The invalid directed them to a gardener, and this 
 one ag^am to the warden of the cathedral of 
 Kazan, w r ho said that he had found a trunk filled 
 with papers after the death of Father Peter, and 
 that he knew that in it there had been a roll of 
 very important papers. Search was made for the 
 family of Father Peter. He had left no direct 
 heirs, but his grand-niece, the daughter of his 
 niece Vara, was found. Arharoff went himself 
 to see her, but she knew nothing. No one knew 
 what had become of the trunk of papers of Father 
 Peter, or whether it had been sent to Moscow with 
 his other things. Everything was found out in 
 time. In the poor retired nunnery of the Ukraine, 
 where Irena had sought refuse, after havino* taken 
 the veil, she peacefully died, at an advanced a^e, 
 fervently praying for her fiance, the lost Konsov. 
 Amongst the effects of the deceased lay a packet 
 of papers, with the inscription " From Father 
 Peter," and there, together with a letter from a 
 very influential personage, a faded myrtle leaf. A 
 
s 
 
 252 PRINCESS TAR AK A NOVA. 
 
 neighbour, who was very fond of antiquities, had 
 
 borrowed these papers from the Lady Superior. 
 
 He had subsequently died abroad. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 Count Alexis Gresrorevitcli OrlofF-Chesmenski 
 married, the very year that the Count and 
 Countess du Nord were travelling abroad. His 
 illegitimate son by the Princess Tarakanova, Alex- 
 ander Chesmenski, died, in the rank of Brigadier, 
 at the close of the last century. Having survived 
 the Empress Ekaterina and the Emperor Pavel, 
 the Count Orloff died in Moscow, in the reign 
 of the Emperor Alexander I., on Christmas Eve, 
 1807, leaving an only unmarried daughter, the 
 well-known Countess Anna Alexeevna. It remains 
 a secret till now whether his conscience tormented 
 him for his treachery to Tarakanova, or whether 
 the stings of remorse had no hold on his bar- 
 dened soul. However, it is a well-known fact, 
 that the agonies of death must have been for 
 Count Orion especially terrible, because, in order 
 to drown the horrible screams and groans of the 
 dying " Giant of his time," it was found necessary 
 to make his private orchestra, at that time learn- 
 ing a sonata in the neighbouring pavilion, play 
 as loudly as possible., 
 
 THE END. 
 
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